Comments on: Richard says: How children view the indoctrination experience

By: AngieJackson

AngieJackson — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:29:52 +0000

Absolutely, Richard. One area where I believe we can begin work is in ending religious exemption laws. Parents are allowed to deny proper medical care, proper education, and engage in abusive punishment or "discipline" - IF their stated reason for the neglect/abuse is religious. (Thank the Christian Scientists for that! They're a tiny denomination, but have a few members in Congress and a powerful lobby.) I've got a petition going now to enhance govt. oversight of teen "behavior" camps. http://tinyurl.com/senate911

By: Richard_Collins

Richard_Collins — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:05:44 +0000

Hi Angie,
Thanks for the support. Our experience studying the personal narratives people post are giving us insight into strategies we might develop to end the causual acceptance of childhood indoctrination. Parents believe they are doing the right thing, but they are obviously not aware of the potential harm they subject their children to.

By: AngieJackson

AngieJackson — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 01:09:14 +0000

Thanks for this post. Deconversion sites were so crucial for me in my early months of atheism (it's just over a year now). If you're an adult, they call it brainwashing. But if you're a kid, and they really get you with supernatural fairy tales, you don't even have your own mind to begin with. There's no "normal" to scale your family's beliefs against. You have to wait till your 20s when you've got a family of your own to try to figure out who the hell you are. (Or at least I did.)

By: Richard_Collins

Richard_Collins — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:23:05 +0000

Reading personal narratives and listening to what parents have to say leads to the conclusion that parents and their children are miles apart in what they understand. Hense my motive to publish what the children have to say. Parents, listen up! As they say in the Army.

By: James Tracy

James Tracy — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:12:21 +0000

Having not grown up in a religious household I can't personally relate to a de-conversion experience, so I find reading these to be extremely helpful – and both disheartening and encouraging.