This is another commentary I wrote a few months back on my blog. It is about how Christians (and most religious people in general) practically indoctrinate children by introducing them to one religion at a young, impressionable age.
Though some of what I say may seem, to long time users and others, like I'm stating the obvious, keep in mind, I'm in high school and this piece is of great importance to me. I am a victim of religious indoctrination and it is something I want to share with the masses.
So, ladies and gentlemen, here it is...
Despite having no religious affiliation at all, I am still asked to go to church on a weekly basis. Well, not really asked, but forced against my will, but I digress. Instead of listening in on the main service, I instead help my very conservative Christian aunt with ‘children’s church’ in the back. All I really do is pop popcorn and pass out snacks, but on many of occasions I have heard what my aunt has been teaching these kids. I have been a victim of this before and I know for a fact that what is happening to those children is the textbook definition of indoctrination.
Most Christians will detest that they are not guilty of this, that they are merely spreading the word of their lord. Well, I don’t care whether or not you go around telling people about the bible or anything of the like. You have the first amendment right to freedom of speech and expression. But, when you are telling young, impressionable children of a religion you want them to believe simply because it is your religion, then that is indoctrination.
I know first hand what they do, they tell of their god who created everything and how almighty he is. They then tell you that not believing in this deity will result in you being punished to eternal damnation. It scares the children, you have been successful, they believe. It is this that causes a generation of children to not think. Well, think freely. There was a period of time where I hated gay people and told my Jewish friend he was going to go to hell because he wasn’t a Christian. Luckily, I have come to my senses, but think of all the other children confused by the already convoluted Christianity.
I have always felt that children shouldn’t be taught about any kind of religion. Let them grow up and decide on their own. But, people of various religions, not just Christianity, know that if you get kids hooked at a young age, you’ve got them for life. They know that their very impressionable little minds will suck in their ‘teachings’. Now they have a new generation that will carry it on to the next. It is very scary, considering the bigotry that comes from religion and that it keeps dividing our nation.
But, somehow, Christianity seems to be the most hateful and bigoted of any religion. They try to spread a message of love and hope, yet you see Pat Robertson claiming the Haiti earthquake was a god’s wrath on the country. And do you remember shortly after 9/11, the comments of Jerry Falwell? Instead of blaming the terrorist perpetrators, he blames the dreaded attacks on this nation on feminists, abortionists, gay people, and the ACLU, as with Robertson, saying it was his deity’s revenge. A human being actually said something so hateful, and on national television. Differing religious ideology results in people saying something so vile about their fellow human. And they make the bogus claim of trying to advocate love.
I know that not every Christian has those feelings, but is it those kinds of statements that can incite hate in the easily influenced. Luckily, for me, I have been able to make a religious choice on my own. I wasn’t brainwashed, it was a result of my own free will. Unfortunately, others haven’t been so lucky. They have let years of having scripture shoved down their throats keep them from making up their own minds. The parent, or the preacher, or the aunt has made up their minds for them.
I’m not telling anyone to turn their backs on any religion, no matter how bad I’ve spoken of one during the course of this entire piece. All I’m telling you to do is one very simple thing. It will help you as a human and as an individual. All you have to do is think. Think, and make sure that you have made the right choice.
And for any parents or future parents wishing to take their children to ‘Sunday school’ or ‘children’s church’, I ask that you reconsider. Let them grow older, and let them think for themselves. They are their own person and have the right that we are all born with, the right to think freely. Do not let that right be repressed, let it flourish. For that could lead us to a better tomorrow.