This issue is one that has really bothered me. This is my general argument:
Background:
When I saw my six year old sister arrive home from her catholic grammar school the other day, she told me about the crucifixion of Jesus. I immediately cringed but bit down and suffered through a six year old child’s account of a story about the brutal murder of a man. As the day went on, I began to think about why I suffered through that story and didn’t stop her to tell her that nobody can prove that, and that other people believed differently. I was allowing for a religion to take advantage of my little sister’s impressionable mind. I felt like a lousy big brother. If my sister didn’t have someone challenge her views like I had mine challenged (luckily) she may continue to preach this idea, and even worse, believe it to be as true as the math and spelling which she learns alongside religion.
When that thought came to my head, I must say that I was overwhelmed with a sense of paranoia and nausea. As of 2001, 76.5% of Americans say that they are Christian (52% Protestant, 24.5% Roman Catholic). This is troubling to me, initially because I’m confident that religion is being used as a tool of intellectual repression when I see such extreme numbers. When my parents raised me, they raised me Catholic because that’s how they were raised. Until I was able to make my own ethical and moral decisions and willingly learn more about different faiths and philosophies (due to others challenging my views), I was a “Catholic.†I use the term loosely because I didn’t know what it meant to be a Catholic in the true sense of the word.
Intellectual Repression:
Why can’t the majority of people simply choose their faith when they are of a proper age to do so, instead of when they are still learning how to read? Why is it up to the minority to educate the majority on their ability to pick their faith or lack thereof? I think that the issue is that we don’t have enough people who are willing to spread awareness on this matter. I’m confident that everyone believes that it is a basic human right to believe what you want to believe. These same people believe what they do because their parents told them to do so from when they were babies. I think that people need to be made aware of this issue and they need to take control over their ability to believe.
I call this inability to believe what you wish, intellectual repression. The sneaky thing with intellectual repression is that your thoughts aren’t your own, and because of that, your actions are influenced. You are influenced in your actions because of being influenced in your thoughts. Yet while we know this, we either watch people become repressed or become repressed ourselves.
Intellectual repression, as will be shown in later sections, can and does lead to such things as prejudice. Wouldn’t it be great if prejudice based on faith or non-faith was removed from our country’s society? With the spread of intellectual liberty, you will see such prejudices hindered greatly, if not, abolished.
Beyond the realm of Christianity:
Before people think that I am attacking just Christianity, let me clarify. My issue is with the way that children are having faith imposed on them when they don’t know any better. It just so happens that in the country in which I reside, Christianity is the dominant religion, as shown in the numbers presented above. So in my argument you will often hear me refer to Christianity and its dogma, but this is simply a numbers game and if any other religion had been the dominant force in this country then it would be that religion which would be giving me the greatest amount of anxiety. My message does spread beyond Christianity, however. I will often use Christianity as an example, but my issue applies to any case of imposed beliefs.
Taking Advantage of Children:
Given this horrible trend that exists, children are being told that as long as they believe something then they are good and will be rewarded. The children, not knowing any better, think that they are being taught something new and true (since they are taught this alongside math and reading) rather than a story which lacks any factual evidence, whatsoever, and that rests on faith alone. I then think about how the children will grow up with these notions of right and wrong which aren’t practiced by the followers of this faith, and will either grow to a point where they are taught the reality of their beliefs and realize that there are none, or continue to grow ignorant of their beliefs and spread the idea to their next of kin.
If we, as parents, brothers, sisters, or guardians can educate ourselves and the younger generations on all faiths and non-faiths and teach them that it is alright to be of a different faith, we will be living in a country that accepts faiths and non-faiths and that doesn’t discriminate based on what you think a religion preaches. Islam is a fine example of this. After September 11th, Muslims were all labeled as terrorists, and most still are. When I got on a train to New York City and a group of Muslims also boarded, some people stared at them for the entire ride simply because of their “terrorist tendencies.†If these people were educated on the Islamic faith when they were younger, this misconception about Muslims wouldn’t be an issue. It is very much against the Islamic faith to take the lives of others. Yet, since their parents didn’t educate them, this prejudice remains.
With a wider knowledge of religious faiths and non-faiths, we will see a decrease in prejudices that are tied to religion.
The Dormant Theory:
In my generation (I’m 19 years old, and a college sophomore) my peers seem to care less about religion. Initially this may be an exciting notion. The problem is that regardless of their lack of care put into their faith, they still claim to be Christian and plan to raise their children as Christians. I see that which has been imposed upon them as simply lying dormant rather than not being cared about. During their college life they don’t have to care about religion, but when the issue of religion is raised and they are forced to face it, they will succumb to what has been ingrained in them. Those who are raised to believe in a religion, unless they take a stand against it, either continue to spread their religion or sit back in quiet observance as a single religion completely takes over the minds of others.
This generation must really understand the importance of intellectual liberty and be willing to make a change because their children will be the generation that will be the clean slate, the tabula rosa, if you will, and will have the chance to be raised free of intellectual repression. Due to this being the case, my generation must really be willing to give their children the proper education on religion and religious tolerance.
“The Village†Theory:
I think that it is time for the people who support intellectual liberty to spread the message of this intellectual repression that occurs in our everyday lives. Forcing children to concede to a religion when they are impressionable is cruel and inhumane, in my opinion. If a parent were telling his or her children about the latest horror movie where a man sacrificed himself to save his children, they would be deemed a bad parent since children shouldn’t learn about those sorts of things. However, it is alright to tell the story of Jesus simply because it is tied to religion?
Some parents raise their children as Catholic and once the children make Confirmation that parents “allow†for them to decide if they want to go to church or not anymore. While this sounds generous to the ears of some, it is just furthering intellectual repression. The 13 years that a parent “educates†a child on a single religion will be 13 years that the child must later decide to go against if they begin to question their faith.
This is a horrible struggle for any parent to make their child go through. To have to question the validity of the 13 most impressionable years of your life, is unarguably difficult. I call this “The Village†syndrome. If any of you recall M. Night Shyamalan’s movie, “The Village,†this point should be perfectly clear. The movie was about a group of people who lived in an isolated village in 1897 Pennsylvania. There is a tale that is told that if villagers travel into the woods surrounding the village they will be devoured by deadly, inhuman creatures.
In fear of the woods, the villagers don’t question the tale and never venture into the woods. However, when one of the men, Lucius Hunt, is injured, his wife, Ivy ventures into the woods in order to reach a nearby town with the remedy. Upon facing her fear of the woods, and reaches the end of the woods, she discovers that her entire village is a reservation and that outside of the woods (which aren’t inhabited by deadly, inhuman creatures) lies present day America.
This trial was very hard for Ivy since she feared physical creatures killing her. This would be grounds for anyone to be frightened, but for some reason people don’t see that this is the type of fear that they are instilling upon their children. Intellectually, children have to fear something worse than creatures in the woods. Their fears are metaphysical by nature, and can get them in the comfort of their homes, if they dare speak out against them. Is this the type of thing that you wish to submit your child to? Why not, instead, educate them on different faiths and promote education rather than fear?
How you can help:
I refuse to take a defeatist attitude towards this topic, since no great innovations arose from a defeatist attitude. I am asking for all of your help to spread the message of intellectual liberty and help promote a society that won’t imprison the minds of their children, that won’t oppress its people.
All that you need to do is promote education rather than repression in regards to religion. It’s that simple. If enough people begin educating themselves and children on all types of religions, we will see a decrease in prejudices that are tied to religion and will have a smarter society because of it.
I want to know how many of you would be behind me in my efforts to raise awareness on this issue. I think that we could make a positive change in society by helping to save the minds of future generations. If I get no backing, I will still strive to spread this message, but it will be much easier if I can count on you all to support me and spread this message. We need to break this chain of repression that plagues or society, and we need to start today!
