I have a niece and nephew. Both were raised together in the same house and went to the same schools. No religion was forced on either,

but was introduced as an option.  Both are very smart kids. One day they were just messing around aggravating each other in the house.

They were getting on my nerves, so I told them to settle down and do something constructive. They asked "Like what?". I said jokingly "I don't know,

find the answers to the universe or something." My nephew says" what do you wanna know?". I replied "I don't know, how did it start, why is it

expanding, and does it end?" I just wanted to read my fishing magazine in peace, but ended up setting it down to listen to their discussion. As bad

as I wanted to put my 2 cents in, I decided to keep my mouth shut and let them do all their thinking on their own.  So anyway, the best  thing they had to

represent matter and expansion was a simple balloon. This is basically how the conversation went.

him: the deflated, scrunched up balloon is everything in the beginning and we will blow it up

her: but who is there to blow it up?

him: nobody stupid, it just exploded

her: ok whatever, just blow it up

him: ok it's blown up, but it's not just air in the middle, the matter is still mixing up in there

her: why does it have an outer edge?

him: it doesn't, if we keep blowing it up the outer edge just keeps breaking down smaller and smaller out into nothing

her: there can't just be nothing

him: ok let's pop it

her: see the balloon is back like it started and nothing is left outside of it

him: that was a "Big Bang" tho

her: yeah, but you had to play God and blow it up

him: who said I was God?

I simply wanted to provoke thought and I let them take what they could from a simple scientific discussion, but I can't help

to wonder if I should have took part in it. At the time I had just left christianity and wasn't 100% set on atheism yet. She just

graduated with honors from ISU and has decided to become a missionary.  He just started at ICC and is leaving his carreer

options open for now.  Would you have just sat back like I did or would you have intervened, and if so, what would you have said.

Remember at the time she was around 13 and he was 9, so leave out the quantum mechanics. And your input could very well have

an impact on the rest of their lives.