Is it wrong for religious organizations to indoctrinate young children.

That depends on the nature of the indoctrination. For example, religious indoctrination of the Aztec and Canaanite cultures demanded the approval of human sacrifices.
 

When a child is born they begin their "indoctrination"! What ever they do or don't do over their initial years becomes their indoctrination. Hopefully, some loving adult(s) are the ones who lead them through this process.

The indoctrination never stops, we all are indoctrinated through all of our lives...as we get older we absorb less of this, but we still are learning till we die. Indoctrination occurs when things are happening in your life or when things are not happening...we learn from it all...!
 
I think we should let children alone. Put them out in the world as soon as possible so they can fight their way to the top. Of course not all will get to the top, but well, you know, we'll have to get someone to do the statistics on that, +/- 50% or less error. Let's just say people are basically good. Let the laws be arbitrary according to how the person looks and how we feel about them. We don't need no stinkin' religion to differentiate between good and evil. Those are two sides of the same coin anyway. If you're ugly or a PIA maybe that's what the jails and prisons are for...bla bla bla bla bla...etc.
 
Y0u
Timewise 60+ said:
When a child is born they begin their "indoctrination"! What ever they do or don't do over their initial years becomes their indoctrination. Hopefully, some loving adult(s) are the ones who lead them through this process.

The indoctrination never stops, we all are indoctrinated through all of our lives...as we get older we absorb less of this, but we still are learning till we die. Indoctrination occurs when things are happening in your life or when things are not happening...we learn from it all...!
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You are right, indoctrination. or socialization as it is also called, is not limited to just family and religion.
Indoctrination - Wikipedia
 
Round and round we go, after a while it becomes rambling babble. I would wager to say that no one changes their opinion due to these types of forum threads. They accomplish little more than to put people into different camps and perhaps a few ignores invoked when others don't have the same view.

Real life conversations amongst friends can turn out differently, here not so much.
 
If the parent or parents are influenced by a particular religious belief then it would make sense that their child or children would be exposed to that same belief. Young children don't usually question what their parent or parents guide them towards.

The wrong IMO is not raising a child to think for themselves & question what they don't understand.
 
My mother was probably the most functional person in my family. She believed in God and Heaven, but she also encouraged me to think on my own. It's not like she pounded "Think on your own, damn it" into my head. She just gave me space and was seldom judgemental. There were times when she said things like, "I wish you wouldn't hold a grudge against your father" or things similar.

In later years I wished I would have listened to her in some of those situations. Even a kid like me needs some guidance, but not when they don't need it. There are times when I needed help, and she was there for me. I never felt indoctrination from her, at least in the way I define it. I would describe her as helpful.
 
unfortunately children depend on parents and the like to make decisions for them and poor leadership by caregivers out of their on ignorance choose to design their children to think as they do because that is all they know. Generations upon generations pass down their ignorance and biases without intentually knowing they are toxic to intellectual growth.
my parents were blinded by the Bible and their inherited beliefs without questioning the program that was taught to believe. Devout Christian’s live in fear of disobeying god if in any way think contrary to gods will and that is not to question the lord thy god. This warning and others written in the Bible prevent freewill thinking beyond gods threats of insubordination. No wonder Christians avidly defend their religion that is based on years of accepted propaganda (my opinion) that is not recognized as propaganda but truth in disguise.

How do you argue truth when neither side is willing to listen objectively without bias and consideration. I know for a fact Christianity does not work for me yet I still find ways to discredit what was ingrained in me as a child. Perhaps I am not as secure in my beliefs as I would like to be. Maybe what I am searching for I have yet to ask the right question for the answer(s) I seek. The answer to The Question has not been asked by me yet, but when I do and I believe that time will come to me in this lifetime, if not there, is always tomorrow.
 
Personally I am saddened when I see young children being brought up in religious families.
The children believe everything their parents tell them.
How many years pass before the children can make their own decisions regarding how she or he wants to live life?
I often see children tagging along with those parents who go door knocking, spreading the word.
Even when the temperature is over 100 degrees.
 
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Radrook said:
That depends on the nature of the indoctrination. For example, religious indoctrination of the Aztec and Canaanite cultures demanded the approval of human sacrifices.
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As Barbaric as it seems, it wasn't all that uncommon among early civilizations. Even Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son. Hopefully we have become more civilized in the present day.
 
Lara said:
Unfortunately, you were in the wrong church. There are the good, the bad, and the ugly churches.
The best ones are good but none are perfect because no people are perfect. I'm sorry you had that experience.
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My father's people were Puritans. Mom's people were Jews. I attended dad's church and mom's synagogue until I was 13, when they basically asked me if I wanted a bar mitzvah or a beer (beer; part of the coming-of-age tradition for male Puritans).

I chose neither, and stopped attending either. No church is right, imo. But parents have the absolute right to teach their children whatever religion they're devoted to. No one has a right to prohibit it. Unless their religion includes rituals or practices that are illegal or violent, of course.
 
Lara said:
Synonyms for the word "indoctrinate" are Brainwash, Propagandize, and Proselytize.
So of course that's wrong for children and adults as well.

Option 1:
But if you mean Sunday Schools for an hour a week that share with children through songs and stories laced with love like, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you", "Love one another", peace, joy, patience, kindness, self control, gratitude, gentleness, goodness, hope, reaching out to help others (Galatians 5:22)....then I see nothing wrong with that. The children leave with joy, love, goodness in their hearts...

Option 2:
Versus a child (not all but dare I say most) sitting at home at the same time staring at the boob-tube or playing violent video games using "guns", or watching inappropriate movies, or fighting on social media, or other "stuff" on the internet, and leave with wanting to bully and harbor hatred, disrespect their parents and other authority, and hurt others.
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The definition of the word according to the dictionary is the one I intended, which is: To instruct in a doctrine, principle, ideology, etc., especially to imbue with a specific partisan or biased belief or point of view.

Nevertheless, I get your point. It would be fair to point out that not all religious institutions depict the Option 1 scenario, and not all secular homes fit with Option 2. I suppose each one needs to be viewed independently based on it's own merit.
 
Pepper said:
An alternative would be how we raised our son. No religion, be a good human. "Human Being, Planet Earth" is what we told him was his "designation." I did teach him about the Bible, explaining to him that he needed to know this common reference or be ignorant of it. Being ignorant is not an alternative, ever.
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Did he also read The Koran and the Tora, the Bhagavad Gita?
 
Knight said:
If the parent or parents are influenced by a particular religious belief then it would make sense that their child or children would be exposed to that same belief. Young children don't usually question what their parent or parents guide them towards.

The wrong IMO is not raising a child to think for themselves & question what they don't understand.
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Well said.
 
Is it wrong for Boy Scouts to indoctrinate children?
Should children be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent?

Is it wrong for schools to indoctrinate children?
Public primary schools were created by states to reinforce obedience among the masses and maintain social order, rather than serve as a tool for upward social mobility, suggests a study from the University of California San Diego. Children are like sponges, and politicians thought that primary schools could shape behavior by instilling fear of punishment for misbehavior, or conversely, by promoting rewards for proper behavior. The mere act of attending school every day, sitting still, not speaking out of turn and following schedules, routines and rituals, like marching in silence from classroom to breakroom, would make individuals internalize from a young age what constituted good manners and civil behavior.

Is it wrong for [xxxxx and xx etc etc] to indoctrinate children?

Pick your poison
 
I think the more you force religion on some people, they rebel. Leave the children alone and let them live a normal childhood. If they want to get into all of the religious crap when they get older, then that's fine. It's their choice. It's just like some families forcing their racial hatred on their children. Let the children grow up believing in what they want to believe in.
 
Mr. Ed said:
A question for @bobcat, what did you hope accomplish with your op.
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Good question. I guess I have always liked having in depth discussions about complex subjects, and you get to hear from people who have had experiences that may be quite different from yours. It has helped me to realize that you just can't categorize things so easily. A lot depends on specifics. How something is done, the intent of the ones doing it, the impact it might have on the life of the one involved, and accountability for abuse (If it exists).
I was hoping for an adult discussion by adults while preserving adult behavior. Sometimes I'm surprised, and it actually happens. ;)
 
This thread was started very shortly after its previous incarnation ("Cults") was shut down by the moderator. I was pretty sure we weren't supposed to try to bypass that by starting a new thread.
 
There was no indoctrination in my life there was not a choice. To rebel at a young age was unheard of and against my dad’s chosen profession. I would to have that conversation with him today, the outcome would be different than when I was young and naive.
 
The reason topics as these continue to pop up is everyone in one way or another has an opinion or questions related to the discussion. Faith, religion and life experience remains ingrained as part of our Identity that it is good to share what is important to us as it is really all we have left to discuss.
 

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