Dear God, stop brainwashing children

Let us now put our hands together and pray. O God, we gather here today to ask you to free our schoolchildren from being forced to go through this charade every day. As you know, O Lord, because You see all, British law requires every schoolchild to participate in “an act of collective worship” every 24 hours. Irrespective of what the child thinks or believes, they are shepherded into a hall, silenced, and forced to pray – or pretend to.

If they refuse to bow their heads to You, they are punished. This happened to me, because I protested that there is no evidence whatsoever that You exist, and plenty of proof that shows the texts describing You are filled with falsehoods. When I pointed this out, I was told to stop being “blasphemous” and threatened with detention. “Shut up and pray,” a teacher told me on one occasion. Are you proud, O Lord?

Forcing children to take part in religious worship every day is a law worthy of a theocracy, not a liberal democracy where 70 per cent of adults never attend a religious ceremony. That’s why the Association of Teachers and Lecturers – one of the teachers’ unions – has recently moved to ask the Government to stop forcing its members to take part in this practice.

Why does this anachronism persist in this blessedly irreligious country? For all their whining that they are “persecuted”, the religious minority in Britain are in fact accorded remarkable privileges. They are given a bench-full of unelected positions in the legislature, protection from criticism in the law, and vast amounts of public money to indoctrinate children into their belief systems in every school in the land.

I can understand why the unelected, faltering religious institutions cling to this law so tightly. When it comes to “faith”, if you don’t get people young, you probably won’t ever get them. Very few people are, as adults, persuaded of the idea that (say) a Messiah was born to a virgin and managed to bend the laws of physics, or that we should revere a man who at the age of 53 had sex with a nine-year-old girl. You can usually only persuade people of this when they are very young – a time when their critical and rational faculties have not yet been developed – and hope it becomes a rock in their psychological make-up they dare not pull out.

But why do the rest of us allow this fervent 5 per cent of the population to force the rest of our kids to follow their superstitions? Parents can withdraw their children if they choose – but that often means separating the child in an embarrassing way from her friends and exposing them to criticisms from the school, so only 1 per cent do it. Most don’t even know it is an option.

More importantly still, why is worship forced on 99 per cent of children without their own consent or even asking what they think? As the author Richard Dawkins has pointed out many times, there are no “Christian children” or “Muslim children”. I was classed as “Christian” because my mother is vaguely culturally Christian, although at every opportunity I protested that I didn’t believe any of it. Children are not born with these beliefs, as they are born with a particular pigmentation or height or eye colour. Indeed, if you watch children being taught about religion, you will see most of them instinctively laugh and ask perfectly sensible sceptical questions that are swatted away – or punished – by religious instructors.

I am genuinely surprised that no moderate religious people have, to my knowledge, joined the campaign to stop this compelled prayer. What pleasure or pride can you possibly feel in knowing that children are compelled to worship your God? Why are you silent?

The prayer-enforcers offer a few arguments in their defence. At first, they claim it instils “moral values” in children. The scientist Gregory S Paul produced a detailed study in 2005 to find out if rates of murder and rape went up as levels of religion went down. He found the exact opposite. On detailed international comparisons, the more religious a country is, the more likely you are to be stabbed or raped there. There isn’t necessarily a causal relationship – but it blasts a bloody hole in this claim.

Of course, if you actually followed the morality explicitly commanded by the Bible, Torah and Koran, you would kill adulterers, gay people, apostates, and disobedient children and be sent to prison. Thankfully, the vast majority of religious believers long since decided to disregard much of “God’s word”, because it is manifestly appalling, and read it metaphorically. But you have to strip away an awful lot of the texts as metaphor before you get to a few bland lessons about being nice to each other. Can’t we get the lessons about niceness from somewhere else, without the bogus metaphysics and endless injunctions to kill our friends?

Once the morality defence dissolves, the religious switch tack, and claim that children indoctrinated into religion perform better academically. As “proof”, they point to the fact that faith schools perform somewhat better on league tables. It’s true – but look a little deeper.

There have been two detailed studies of this, by the conservative think tank Civitas, and the Welsh Assembly. They found faith schools get better results for one simple reason: they use selection to cream off highly motivated children of the wealthy and weed out difficult, poor or unmotivated students who would require more work. Once you take into account their “better” intakes, faith schools actually underperform academically by 5 per cent (and that’s before you factor in all the other problems they cause).

I am absolutely not saying that schools should teach children to be atheists. No. Schools should take no position on religion. They should be neutral, and equip children with the thinking skills – asking for evidence, and knowing how to analyse it rationally – that will enable them to make up their own minds, when they wish, beyond the school gates. How can a religious person object to that, without admitting that open-minded, evidence-seeking adults would see through their claims in a second?

this article makes hell of a sense if u read, digest, diagonise and understands it.

Meself don tire# A and B claiming to b ryt, one s wrong, both r wrong, which s?

wahles:
Meself don tire# A and B claiming to b ryt, one s wrong, both r wrong, which s?

The 'right way' is to give children the confidence to think for themselves. To absorb information and be able to discern that which is nonsense (e.g. Virgin births, illiterates writing whole books) from that which is logical.

supported.i keep telling adult christians if their guardian(parents or whoever) didnt teach, force or persaude them to believe in spirit(imaginaly god) they would likely not be talking about it or believing some sh.it called GOD.

Nice

Nice one.

Labouring children of their parents religion is child abuse. Expose the child to varieties of other religious believes and science and allow him to arrive to a more logical conclusion. Not

-you are a Muslim child
-you are a christian child
-you a catholic child
-Jewish child
-Buddha child.

With this Labouring of children with their parents religion, the child grow up and become a religious fanatic and dogma capable of committing all sorts of hideous acts in the name of religion.

I 've read, digested, diagonised and understood that God doesn't brainwash no child. God does not judge anyone by the amount of words or actions you put in prayers but by the love, excellence and care of Him in your heart. This is worship.

Orunto:
I 've read, digested, diagonised and understood that God doesn't brainwash no child. God does not judge anyone by the amount of words or actions you put in prayers but by the love, excellence and care of Him in your heart. This is worship.

we re talking about liitle kids been compelled to a particular religion by their parents, is that right?

I am saying that some parents and pastors may be guilty of brainwashing and badly indoctrinating the children under their care. I am also saying that God is the Ultimate Instructor of all children, pastors and parents and will never allow brainwashing or bad indoctrination of His chosen ones, children or nor.

mmsen:


The 'right way' is to give children the confidence to think for themselves. To absorb information and be able to discern that which is nonsense (e.g. Virgin births, illiterates writing whole books) from that which is logical.

You are a child of the devil. You are doing your father's wish.

It is just a matter of time when you will regret all these useless postings of yours.

enilove:


You are a child of the devil. You are doing your father's wish.

It is just a matter of time when you will regret all these useless postings of yours.

What is the 'devil'?

Why do my posts make you so angry? Because I call for people to absorb knowledge instead of mythology?

Orunto:
I am saying that some parents and pastors may be guilty of brainwashing and badly indoctrinating the children under their care. I am also saying that God is the Ultimate Instructor of all children, pastors and parents and will never allow brainwashing or bad indoctrination of His chosen ones, children or nor.

What is 'good' indoctrination and what is 'bad' indoctrination?

God gave us ten commandments. Christ gave us the Beatitudes: Matt: 5. These are good doctrines. Learn them and teach them to your people and neighbours. Good morning. Till Sunday 28th.

I COULD KISS YOU FOREVER FOR THIS POST


BRAVO!

krattoss:
we re talking about liitle kids been compelled to a particular religion by their parents, is that right?

in time you'll find that you can't really compel anyone to do anything, young or old. Religion is a thing of the mind, where the illogical becomes logic, the unreasonable reasonable. My parents where Christians, grew up with the entire Christian thingy, while the bible is an acceptable doctrine to me, Christianity never made sense.

just like the whole god and religion thing doesn't make sense to you, budha said "EACH INDIVIDUAL SOUL REVELS IT'S OWN TRUTH". the truth is uniquely tailored to each individual. What's totally gibberish to yhu is another individuals truth, vivid to his mind.

In a nut shell, what yhu believe or allow yhur self to believe revels who yhu really are

Mind influencing mind is common, no two minds are equal in strength, its a well known scientific fact.

chalantmike:
in time you'll find that you can't really compel anyone to do anything, young or old. Religion is a thing of the mind, where the illogical becomes logic, the unreasonable reasonable. My parents where Christians, grew up with the entire Christian thingy, while the bible is an acceptable doctrine to me, Christianity never made sense.

just like the whole god and religion thing doesn't make sense to you, budha said "EACH INDIVIDUAL SOUL REVELS IT'S OWN TRUTH". the truth is uniquely tailored to each individual. What's totally gibberish to yhu is another individuals truth, vivid to his mind.

In a nut shell, what yhu believe or allow yhur self to believe revels who yhu really are

Mind influencing mind is common, no two minds are equal in strength, its a well known scientific fact.

If your parents were muslims wouldnt you be a muslim?

johnydon22:


If your parents were muslims wouldnt you be a muslim?

no i wouldnt, my parents are a Christian, the whole Christian nine yards, but am not, not remotely a Christian, theist, i just dont get the Christian thingy.

chalantmike:
no i wouldnt, my parents are a Christian, the whole Christian nine yards, but am not, not remotely a Christian, theist, i just dont get the Christian thingy.

What were you at the starting point of your life. . during your childhood stage?

johnydon22:


What were you at the starting point of your life. . during your childhood stage?

i was never a Christian, call it an independent spirit, my parents called it spirit of rebellion, i always skipped church in Sundays, i spent my offering, it got to a point had to be dragged to church side to side with my dad, special sit, my mind would go somewhere else.

I remember my dad saying after all the flogging and what not. In his words

"this is the way i know, i know no other way". Christian just wasn't me, and i tried to make never worked. I discovered my way to God very early in life, but i never cause it goes against everything have been brought up with, Christianity just isn't me. If you preach to moi today i wont resist you, the verse you gonna quote i know, imma join you in prayer, but that is all. I offer no resistance cause i know myself and i know my own truth.

The same wood another bows down to and offer worship, is the same wood you as the OP, would throw into the fire and watch it burn, no remorse no sentiment what so ever.

What does that tell you about religion?

Religion is a thing of the mind, no body can brain wash you only you can brain wash you.

johnydon22:


What were you at the starting point of your life. . during your childhood stage?

No one is born a Christian or a Muslim.

mmsen:


No one is born a Christian or a Muslim.

exactly, it's the parents that indoctrinate children into their respective religions.

Lovely post!!!!!

Another Brain washing Act

@ enilove OP is making senses, u need to read d post again.

enilove:


You are a child of the devil. You are doing your father's wish.

It is just a matter of time when you will regret all these useless postings of yours.