Hi ICANT,
As a 9 year and 11 month old boy I believed those words, upon believing them I put my spirit in God's hands to take care of. He gave me all the faith I needed then and has supplied all I have needed from then until now.
Would you trust a 9 year to properly evaluate a situation, weigh both sides of an argument and render a decision based off of his/her 9 year old reasoning?
I have a 9 year old daughter. I can assure you that her reasoning abilities and her ability to interpret and evaluate evidence, within the context of this topic, are in no way adequate enough. How could anyone base a lifetime of belief on something that was determined to be true when you were a 9 year old kid? Do you still believe in Santa? Easter bunny? Unicorns and faries? That He-Man is a real dude? That a cow actually jumped over the moon? I would think that you don't, and why would you, those were things that were believed as a child.
You say you only had 1 book to read. Doesn't seem like you had any other option other than to believe what it says, especially when the book is said to be the word of God. How could a child at such a young influential age have the courage to question a book said to be the word of God, AND with the ever lingering fear of eternal hell?
What you are describing is textbook indoctrination. You had a limited exposure to the facts about reality and accepted the first thing that you read. How do you not see the flaw in this?
"I smoke pot. If this bothers anyone, I suggest you look around at the world in which we live and shut your mouth."--Bill Hicks
"I never knew there was another option other than to question everything"--Noam Chomsky