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Twobitsmedia replied:How can you say that religion is not responsible for indoctronation?
So, my questions.Religion can only do so if the subject is willing to be indoctrinated.
There is of course, always a choice, but most younger children are under the perpetual (and powerful) influence of their parents, making it incredibly easy to force a child into the choice the parent wants. Even if the child chooses to resist whatever religion is being taught to them, however, their parents can still force it upon them. The child does have choices (most of which he/she cannot comprehend), but very few can prevent a parent, with a strong intent to indoctrinate the child.Does a child have a choice when it comes to being indoctronised?
I don't want to generalize about children as a whole, but, at young ages, I'm sure they won't even know what indoctrination is, nevermind know it is happening to them. Their knowledge is limited to what their parents deem appropriate to show them so scrutiny on the part of a child (scrutinization and questioning are what separate education and indoctrination) is a virtual impossibility.Can a child know they are being indoctronised?
It again depends on the child itself, and, more importantly, how old they are when the indoctrination is begun, but in most cases, I would say no. Parents have tons of influence on a child, and it would take an incredibly strong-willed and self-assured one to resist the influence of both their parents, and the religion's community as a whole.Can a child avoid being indoctronised?
Indoctrination isn't about religion, as such, but about education gone wrong. Rather than giving people access to the evidence and helping them learn how to decide for themselves, indoctrination forces conclusions down their throats and punishes them for expressing doubt.joeyknuccione wrote:For me I will define indoctrination as a strict adherence to an extreme form of religion. That kind of religion where folks think anyone who disagrees with it is some kind of devil, or whatever. The most glaring example of this others are likely aware of is featured in the 'Jesus Camp' documentary. One of the saddest things in that movie is the young boy crying his eyes out because he doesn't feel as strongly about 'the faith' as his other campmates. Instead of either removing the kid, or trying to comfort him, he is allowed to continue to feel the pain of his disbelief. I think that is child abuse, and don't even try to talk me out of my stance on that one.
I also think the parents' indoctrination can have a direct, damaging effect on the kid as well. I heard recently of a kid who died from a curable disease, all because the parents refused treatment, and tried to pray it away. Reports from the neighbors said the poor kid hollered for a week or so before he finally died. That kind of indoctrination is just sad, and I hope the parents spend the rest of their lives in jail. Let them try to pray their way of it, and maybe they will experience the pain their poor kid went through.
When kids are involved, I think the parent owes them the respect of their consciences. If you feel the need to have them go to church, thats one thing, but forcing draconian measures on them when they don't, to me that's child abuse.
McCulloch wrote:Many of the connotations listed in this thread are not a part of the actual meaning of indoctrinate.
My problem with indoctrination is that, according to the definition, it is to imbue with a specific partisan or biased belief or point of view.olavisjo wrote:Let's just call it what it is, brainwashing.
I am all for that, if you ever run for the school board, you got my vote.McCulloch wrote:I believe that the goal of instruction and education is to present as an unbiased and non-partisan point of view as possible. Students should be taught to learn to follow where the evidence leads them, even if that path goes to places the instructor had never imagined. Sadly, so much that passes for education is rote learning of facts and the biases of the teachers.
And yet the propagation of religion depends highly on indoctrinating children.olavisjo wrote:I am all for that, if you ever run for the school board, you got my vote.McCulloch wrote:I believe that the goal of instruction and education is to present as an unbiased and non-partisan point of view as possible. Students should be taught to learn to follow where the evidence leads them, even if that path goes to places the instructor had never imagined. Sadly, so much that passes for education is rote learning of facts and the biases of the teachers.
If you raise a child right he will make the right choice, if he does not, he will learn from his mistake, if he does not learn from his mistake, there is always the wood shed.
Indoctrination of children only produces lukewarm Christians, the really fanatical ones are just born that way and come from all backgrounds.Thought Criminal wrote:And yet the propagation of religion depends highly on indoctrinating children.
TC
