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An Ethical Dilemma: Childhood Conversion in Christian Fundamentalism

Posted by Richard Collins

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University of Sydney
Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies
Masters Dissertation

This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master of Peace and Conflict Studies by Melissa Ruth Juliet Bennett.
24-June-2009

An Ethical Dilemma: Childhood Conversion in Christian Fundamentalism
http://www.julietbennett.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Ethical-Dilemma-of-Childhood-Conversion-in-Christian-Fundamentalism1.pdf

I strongly recommend reading Ms. Bennett’s dissertation, but in the interests of brevity will simply reproduce her conclusion here.

Conclusion

The child is the forgotten citizen, and yet, if statesmen and educationists once came to realise the terrific force that is in childhood for good or for evil, I feel they would give it priority above everything else. All problems of humanity depend on man himself; if man is disregarded in his construction, the problems will never be solved. –235 Montessori, The Forgotten Citizen

In addressing the scenario posed in Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations of a war between cultures, the accepted practice of enculturation must be considered. Recognising that some enculturation is a necessary basis for education it is critical that it is combined with cultivating the student’s ability to question traditions and to challenge the status quo should it be required. A fundamentalist paradigm transmits beliefs without engaging in critical thinking, with priority placed on conforming to a state of mind that combines belief in a single absolute truth with a complete trust placed on an authoritative book or person. In the case of Christian fundamentalism, this paradigm translates to the conviction that there is one True God, the Bible contains His authoritative word, and of a single exclusive path to salvation found only by conforming one’s mind to the narrative the church prescribes. As a consequence any person who does not conform to this narrative is seen as having “rejected God”, choosing instead to live life by their own rules and worship “fake” gods. These are their beliefs and consequently they bring their children up to believe the same thing; creating a perpetuating cycle of violence.

Many fundamentalists are not aware that their unchanging truth is in fact a new interpretation of a truth shaped by theological debates and politics over the last two millennia. Most are unaware that their interpretation of the Bible has been distorted by the modern paradigm from which they see it. They do not realise that by adopting a simplistic literal interpretation, without regard for Jewish midrashim and the role of mythos, prevents fundamentalists from understanding the “more-than-literal” meaning that the authors embedded in their writings. When children are brought up with in a fused premodern-modern paradigm based on a single unchangeable truth, they struggle to interact with the postmodern world and its many truths and constant change.

Insecurities grow as the now adolescent or adult fundamentalist feels that the basis from which they understand reality is under threat. If there is no absolute truth then how is one to distinguish what is good from what is evil? How can one evaluate all the conflicting truths that surround them? These fears lead to an even more distorted version of their religion, one caught up in identity and ideology.

Note: Juliet Bennett is seeking advice concerning publishing her dissertation. You can forward information to me.

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Posted on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 3:51 pm in Apostacy, Childhood Indoctrination, Religion.

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Comments (13)

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Jessica Sideways

I hope this helps in our ever so important quest of ending hereditary religion.

» Posted on October 5, 2009 at 11:59 am

Richard_Collins

Thank you Jessica. We are trying to learn everything we can about the ancient unethical practice of using children to insure religion survives from generation to generation. If faith cannot compete for adult adherents, then it should leave the planet.

I am following you now on Twitter. I always feel a strange moment when I tell someone that I am following them. Like I am a stalker. Oh well.

» Posted on October 5, 2009 at 1:39 pm

Jessica Sideways

Exactly. If it has to attack children when their minds are not yet fully formed to resist their bullshit in the first place, then it is obviously without merit and must be destroyed.

The weird feeling you have is just simply an evolution of social networking and a definition of the word "following". You can also "follow" a story in a newspaper. Hope that helps!

» Posted on October 5, 2009 at 3:32 pm

stuffed

I think this dissertation needs to be published. I have skimmed through it and at length think a lot of the points Julia makes are well considered and well based on history, fact and literature. It also helps with understanding greater connections between childhood indoctrination and religious extremism. It also is to me kind of like looking through a keyhole on the ugly world, and then opening the door and seeing why it is ugly. How was she thinking of publishing it.

» Posted on October 5, 2009 at 10:36 pm

Richard_Collins

Actually, Juliet is seeking suggestions. I have no direct knowledge about how researchers get their reports published for a wider audience. One thought I had was to offer it as a Kindle document. This doesn't cost the author anything and should lend weight to copyright ownership claims. Setting up a Kindle account at Amazon is relatively straightforward. I could ask my God Google, she usually has some good suggestions.

» Posted on October 6, 2009 at 12:05 pm

James Tracy

One means is to simply publish it yourself through a free print on demand service like http://www.lulu.com. You can even get an ISBN and sell it through Amazon.com in book form.

» Posted on October 6, 2009 at 4:14 pm

William Cody Bateman

No where in the Scriptures does one find a following after Jesus Christ as God akin to "creating a perpetuating cycle of violence." The author's statement is a primary example of willful ignorance of what it is required to be "a Christian."

Interestingly, the lack of moral absolutes is the very kindling that has wrecked societies from the beginning of time. What is perceived as more violent then? The man or woman who places their faith in the God of the Bible or the man or woman who writes disparagingly about those who place their faith in the God of the Bible?

» Posted on October 6, 2009 at 5:33 pm

James Tracy

Have you read the Old Testament? It is practically dripping with violence – much of it God sanctioned or God ordered. You should also check out some of its 'moral absolutes'

» Posted on October 6, 2009 at 5:44 pm

stuffed

James is right. Lulu is an option.
I would also say that if you can go to an authorative jounal in her field and post it in that or one of the freethinking journals. Psychology journal is another option.

» Posted on October 6, 2009 at 8:30 pm

stuffed

There is a simple answer to what is required to be a christian, and it has something to do with willfull ignorance and a doting dogged doltishness but i shall not go into that here.

With respects to your comment that it is found nowhere in the bible that "folllowing after Jesus Christ as God [is] akin to 'creating a perpetual cycle of violence.'" This may be so but it is the authors observence that this absolute faith in a text leads to explicit violence being bandied in the name of this fictional work.

I do not see the link between moral absolutes and someone writing disparagingly, or someone having a faith. That is not to do with morals it is to do with a freedom of thought and opinion. You feel offended when someone pays out on your God, that is your issue. The immoral thing is killing someone in the name of a novel. Or a false deity, because surely looking at the evidence you've concluded their cannot be a true one

» Posted on October 6, 2009 at 8:37 pm

William Cody Bateman

Thank you for your thoughtful replies. The "faith" that a Christian follows is not toward absolute laws or morals but rather, an absolute God of Righteousness, Holiness and Authority as Creator God. As such, He laws are both immutable and absolute.

The human quandary then is this; if a man denies a God of absolutes – then he condemns himself by his unbelief in this same perfectly holy God. If he acknoledges this God exist but refuses to submit to his absolutes – he condemns himself by lack of faith.

Finally, if a man comes to understand that God's absolutes drives that same man to repentance – he is saved from the fiery judgment a just and holy God must otherwise meet out. Moral absolutes then, becomes the task master that drives a man to beg God for His mercy, lest he perish in unbelief.

» Posted on October 8, 2009 at 3:42 am

Richard_Collins

Christians have appropriated morality as their signature issue for convincing the unwary that only Christianity can lead people to right action. However, mounting evidence reveals that humans have an evolutionary reason to live in harmony and peace. What we call morality is simply the rules that flow from recognizing that the group (family, community, nation) prospers and is happy when people respect each other and try to help each other.

» Posted on October 9, 2009 at 2:17 pm

Bradford

Wow!! I am glad I found this site. Admittedly, I disagree with your arguments, still I find the discussion interesting. You make are making too much of this childhood conversion thing. The problem is parents are lazy. They take their children to church on Sunday and hope their children get it. Thus, 9 out of 10 children raised in Christian families receive at best 1 hour a week of Christian education and the rest of their waking time is spent learning about secular humanism. By the time a Christian child (in the U.S.) go to college, they stop going to church and have absolutely no use for the faith. This repeats itself over and over. Why do you think the numbers of self-admitted Christians are declining, not growing. When it comes to having a truly biblical worldview, Americans are uneducated. The secularists are winning.

» Posted on January 8, 2010 at 6:56 pm

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