I have always been extremely concerned at indoctrination of children. To seed young, impressionable minds with faith ideas at an early age, prior to them being able to reason, I consider to be an abuse.
I can see why the religious are keen on the idea. They know that if they can instil those ideas into a child’s head at an early stage they will have hooked them for life. They will have been psychologically impregnated with religion. They will never be able to remove it. It becomes hard-wired.
Most people see nothing wrong with this. They think of religion as benign, even beneficial; it instils moral values.
I believe it is much more sinister than that.
It is only with the rise of fundamentalism that people are waking up to the harm. We are seeing young children being drilled in religious doctrine, learning tracts by rote, and being taught not to question the whole doctrine. Some of these children are now going on to become fundamentalists and extremists. And we are surprised!
I am a multiculturalist. I believe we should respect other cultures and customs. But that does not mean that those cultures should displace British culture. I see them as an enriching and peripheral experience. I believe that people should become integrated into British culture if they chose to live here.
I am concerned when I find enclaves developing in Britain where people are recreating the culture of their ‘home’ country and making no attempt to integrate. That is not enriching for either party.
I believe that adults should be free to practice whatever religious/spiritual practices they desire. But they should not inflict these superstitions on children.
For these reasons I am opposed to all religious schools on principle. I do not believe they should be legal at all, let alone encouraged and resourced from the state.
My reasons are simple:
- We should integrate into British culture and not live in enclaves.
- We should never indoctrinate children.
Religious schools create separate cultures, prevent integration, prevent the assimilation of British culture and values, and facilitate the indoctrination of children which I consider to be child abuse.
I would also shut down Sunday Schools, Madrassas and other religious indoctrination programmes.
Very inflammatory heading, or perhaps that was the intention. Mostly it is not religion itself that is dangerous.. it is the few who twist the religion… this happens with many religions including Christian… all types of religion can attract a few fanatics. This doesn’t mean that religion itself is fundamentally wrong. Neither does it make Sunday Schools, Madrassas and other religious programmes wrong. We live in a multicultural Britain and we can’t expect people to forsake their religion just because they chose to live here. Christians, Muslims or other religions need to have the freedom to follow their faith here. Madrassas are “an important feature of the Muslim community”: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/david-cameron-is-wrong-i-went-to-a-madrassa-and-it-didnt-make-me-an-intolerant-british-muslim-a6689711.html
This is something I feel very strongly about. I do not have any problem with people choosing to follow any religion of their choice or celebrating their own traditions and culture. I believe in tolerance and respect. I celebrate a multicultural society and the enrichment that brings. But I do favour integration over segregation and I am strongly against the indoctrination of children. I think that instilling a religion into a child is abusive. As with politics I believe adults should, when they are able to reason, be presented with the facts and allowed to make up their own minds rather than having it imposed on them. Psychologically I believe the techniques used by religions on children can be very damaging.
That is my belief.
Thanks again for your views – it is always good to debate and communicate. Best wishes – Opher
Religion shouldn’t be taught to children, they are very vulnerable at this age, and they tend to accept everything as a fact especially if you use the fear factor
I agree with you.
An interesting topic and certain to draw heat from both sides. But I have a question somewhere in the middle. You find indoctrination of children an abuse (not suggesting for or against here). Do you not also see the total materialistic mindset of our culture (especially here in the states) as not also abusive? Our TV commercials, magazines, programming, music, movies, etc. are all calculated to indoctrinate children into a hedonistic lifestyle that puts THEM, not the good of mankind as a whole, at the center of their universe. And they would be extremely pleased if they were at the center of everyone else’s universe, too. And yet that is a way of being that is childish. Could you consider that some folks who put their kids in parochial schools are simply trying to combat that self-indulgent lifestyle that benefits no one, least of all the child? Materialism is a religion, too, after all. Just askin’… 😉
Yes – very good food for thought. I do agree with you. The hedonistic, materialistic mindset is equally deplorable. There is a clear indoctrination process at work through the media. But certainly in my school there was a very pronounced ethos and clear policies that countered that. We had an ethos of caring, respect, tolerance, responsibility, empathy and compassion that permeated the whole school and countered that cold, heartless consumerism and empty lifestyle. It does not have to emanate from religion.
I am reminded of that incredible poem Bob Dylan did where he talked about god and Woody Guthrie and awe and wonder and ended saying they can all be found at Grand Canyon at sunset. That’s how I feel. I don’t need religion, god or afterlife to do good things, reward or punish, because my life is full and fulfilled, I can find my wonder and awe in communion with others, friendship, love, creativity, and the wonders and majesty of the world around me. If there is a god I am sure that it is not confined to any words written in any ancient (or modern) text. That force would be as much in Bob Dylan’s lyrics as in any Koran or Bible. And I’m sure that any god would not care a jot what I believed in, what rituals I followed, so much as the actions that I’ve done. In my mind any god is more akin to the atomic energy that pervades the universe and everything in it. I do not believe in any moral aspect or interest in human lives. It is an elemental force that we are all part of. We don’t have to believe in it or anything. We have a life and we live it as positively as we can. We try to fill it with love, creativity and assist others and in that way we find our own happiness and fulfilment.
Phew – rant over. Thanks Cheryl – you got me thinking. I might dig out that poem now and blog it with a bit of this. How’s that?
Happy to see that I spurred you on to another post! 😀
Inspiration is always good! That Bob Dylan poem was special!
I was Baptised into the Roman Catholic Faith, coming from Irish Parents who came here in the 1930s. I was educated in the Catholic Schools, and to this day I have what is referred to as the “Catholic guilt”, it never leaves you, well it has never left me. I am lapse Catholic because of all the hypocrisy I have had to endure. Having married in 1975 not only a man 30 years my senior, but High Church of England faith, a Divorced man and worse still a Freemason – so I was not only barred much to my Mother’s anguish from a Church Wedding but barred from Holy Communion. Despite all of this the “Catholic guilt” remains to this day. My two Sons were Baptised into the Catholic faith to keep the peace with my Mother, terribly wrong. My eldest Son is an Atheist now, my youngest well he I think is an Agnostic, as for me well my faith in God is so strong and I do believe there is something better after this life that this is the rehearsal for what is to come. I admire Pope Francis he to me is not just Catholic, he is a Man who reaches out to anyone despite what they may or may not believe, he is someone this world needs so much. No Church no strict Faith, just people believing in whatever is out there for them.
As to people coming to this Country and integrating well yes they should but how many will not and this is the problem we face here in the UK. This is not new, when I was growing up I not only lived in what now would be described as the Irish Quarter, but the “Working Class area” too. I was fully aware that although born in England I had Irish blood running through my veins my parents were working class, and I should not be expected to rise above that. You should ask those who refuse to integrate why. This is still a Class Society which I detest and will always stand against, to me I am more concerned with how this Government of ours is dividing the Country making the poor even more poor, and I do not refer to those that take benefits because they are easy to obtain and are too lazy to work then complain say when a Polish person takes a job. I am entitled to Benefits because of chronic health issues, but I refuse to apply for Benefits, there are others who are far worse off. Look at this disgusting “Bedroom Tax”. I refer to the Tories making it easier for their own super rich friends to make more money. This Country will never move on until we no longer have a system that is so class ridden, a Queen and the rest of them, when the Queen dies that should be the end of them we should become a Republic. End of rant. Enjoyed reading all you said and loved the obvious Freedom of your life as seen in your photographs. Good luck.
As for your views in in
Thank you for you comments. I hear and agree with what you say. It’s good to have a rant. As you can see I do it all the time.
You’re always welcome here. This is a good place to unload.
Thanks for your views Anna. I appreciated them – best wishes Opher.
Reblogged this on Opher's World and commented:
Religion should be a personal choice for adults – not imposed on children.
Like Anna, I too am a lapsed Catholic – and I taught in a Catholic school system for 35 years here in Ontario (Canada). Yes, I hate the Catholic guilt and the controlling nature of the Church. As much as I have repudiated all religion in my life, I cannot escape that which was indoctrinated within me. I can deny it. I can refuse to abide by it. But I cannot purge it.
My concern is that human beings are spiritual beings and that needs to be nourished and developed in whatever way is good for the individual. I feel lost, so I look with great interest at the ideas of those who find their spiritual outlet in nature – in a communion of all living things. We need to find our way to s spiritual life that nurtures our soul. I am certain of one thing: religion is not the way to go. Spiritual growth needs to be free of rules and regulations imposed by self-appointed or elected vicars of God using the threat of eternal damnation. I hate that garbage. What loving deity would inflict such cruelty on people?
I agree, Opher, religion is bad news. But if someone wants to worship in a certain way, that’s their right. Teaching their children is their right as parents. For us to forbid them to teach their kids about religion – do we have that right? I have trouble with that.
I agree with you – religion is man-made and spirituality is, for me, some wonder of awe and majesty in nature and the universe to which we are connected.
But I go further than you. I do think it is wrong for a parent to indoctrinate their child with a religion. I think parents should inculcate respect, tolerance, wonder, awe, love, morality, caring and compassion and empathy for living creatures and fellow humans. Beyond that I think it is wrong. Some parents have want the right to chastise their children with physical or emotional force but the state clearly says, now, that this is wrong. I think they should do the same for religion. When they are adults they can decide. Until then I believe it is wrong.
But what a good debate that is?