Devout parents claim they must indoctrinate their children

They say, you (meaning non-believers) can’t understand this because you don’t believe what we do. If we did not “indoctrinate” our children, then we would be hypocrites. Non believers can perfectly understand your claims. However, every human being can make choices and Christians especially are taught they have choices according to their own dogma. Isn’t that what their free will concept is all about? The truth is, true believers are not free people, they are enslaved by their superstition and dogma. To the point that they cannot recognize what they are doing may have undesirable harmful effects on their own children. Which to be sure they love, no question about that. Their motives are pure.

The problem is that believers are convinced they possess the ultimate truth that will ensure themselves and their children reach heaven. This notion of eternal salvation is one of the clever and insidious ways Christianity traps people and keeps them ensnared in a belief. The psychological traps are so good that adherents don’t even realize they live in a locked cage. Besides, the false promise of eternal salvation, anyone that seriously questions the program will be ex-communicated. So much for free will.

The other assertion believers make is that their children can always change their religion when they reach the age of maturity, which legally is set as 18. Never mind, that child development experts understand that most 12 to 14 year old children have the ability to reason as well as adults although it is true the quality of their reasoning continues to improve as they grow older. If parents recognized the facts about childhood development they would do the fair minded thing and allow their children to opt out if they wanted to do so.

Religious indoctrination actually can stunt the ability of children to reason because the process discourages questioning. Nature supplies children with a questioning mind as their tool to learn about themselves and about the world. But this can be problematical when children innocently ask embarrassing questions. If a child is shushed or has a hand clamped over their mouth anytime they ask a question that might be blasphemous, or pertains to their sexuality or body functions they can take from that the lesson that they are not to think for themselves. Which is the exact lesson parents want to teach them.

“We don’t want you to be an autonomous, thinking, human being − no, no you are our little robot and you are to think and act as we do.”

Believers assert they know how to insure their children’s salvation. This dogma of salvation has to be the most pernicious dogma man has ever invented. Considering there is so much disagreement between billions of people around the world and in as much as imposing Christian dogma and superstition on a small child can have profound negative effects on their mental health, isn’t the most responsible thing a parent can do is allow their children to gain the maturity they need to make a decision about this for themselves? The choice is between living a life guided by unrelenting doctrine or a life guided by freedom and reason.

The real fact parents worry is that they don’t have confidence their children will choose the same faith they chose and in that case there will not be any heavenly reunions. Which is really not something anyone should count on in the first place.

If Christianity. Judaism or Islam are so good, so true, so pure, why won’t an 18 year old who has not been co-opted see this for themselves? Not a single believer can give a straight answer to that question. Why must Christians and all the other believers in various and sundry superstitions proselytize and indoctrinate their young? The truth is because they have to indoctrinate their young to keep their religion going from generation to generation. The practice is universal, but that does not mean it is ethical. To use children as instruments to fulfill the wishes or desires of their parents and of course the clerics, is wrong. No where else in our mores or ethics do we say it is right for one group of people to use another group of people as instruments in some grand design.

The only way this succeeds is because children are helpless to resist and their oppressors are the only ones who can speak for them in a court of law. This is a perfect Catch 22.

Saying you have no choice is clearly not the case. You do have a choice, but you are tightly wedded to just one option and cannot see there is a serious downside to what you advocate: unmitigated unthinking obedience to your faith. Such obedience is not admirable, because it marks you as as a person who has lost their autonomy.

To understand the harm you may be doing, commit to reading the personal stories people post to exchristian.net for 30 days. Look hard at exactly what the result of childhood indoctrination produces, not the rosy picture you have painted in your mind. Start paying attention to how people that leave are treated. Know that a large number of children do leave their childhood faith as soon as they are out from under their parents despotic supervision. Many drift into other religions because it is extremely difficult to escape the results of childhood indoctrination.

What you advocate and practice has life long negative effects. You are degrading one of the most fantastic natural devices in the universe, the human mind. What I hear is really all about you, your concerns, your fears, your reputation.

If you don’t consign your children the rest of the congregation and your cleric will all mark you as a “bad” Christian. Isn’t that the truth of the matter? Forget what the bible says, your real concern is what others will think about you and your devotion. Your supernatural justifications are not sufficient in a court of law, why should they be acceptable outside a court?

Posted on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 5:22 pm in Childhood Indoctrination, Religion.
Related Posts No related posts.	Share/Save Subscribe via RSS! or Follow EndOfReligion on Twitter!