An Essay On Religious Brainwashing Poem by Lone Dog

I remember the words of a Catholic priest who said, 'Bring me a child before the
age of eight and I will make of him a Catholic for life.' This troubling statement points
out the unsound method by which most of us acquired our faith. Let's face it. Be honest.
We believe in the religion we do because, as children, we were brainwashed by our
parents and the religious institution that they attended. I am a Christian because my
parents brought me up as a Christian. If my parents had been Jewish, I would have been a
Jew. If my parents had been Muslim, I would have been a Muslim. If my parents had
been Hindu, I would have been Hindu. We are what we are because of what our parents
have told us to be and that is a very unintelligent method of adopting a religion.

I once met an Indonesian student attending the University of Windsor. His parents
were wealthy and owned a lumber company back in Indonesia. He was a devout Roman
Catholic and I asked him if his parents were also Catholic. He replied, 'Oh, no. They are
Buddhist and, as a matter of fact, they are rather upset that I converted to Catholicism.' I
was very interested in the reason for his conversion. He told me that when he attended
university he studied all the religions of the world and then picked the religion that best
suited him. What an intelligent method of choosing a religion, I thought!

The conversation with this young man was an enlightening experience. It became
apparent to me that no one can make an intelligent decision about religion until he or she
is an adult and has become knowledgeable about all the religious options. Those who
blindly believe what they were taught as children and who have not, as adults, thoroughly
examined all the other religious options, are allowing themselves to continue to be
brainwashed. Those who are intransigent and die for their own religious beliefs without
first examining the other options are no less than fools.

Thus, children are incapable of making an intelligent decision about religion and
responsible parents should expose their children to, and teach tolerance for, other
religions. Adulthood, not childhood, is the time to choose a religion. Without the mental
maturity of adulthood and without an open minded and careful examination of all
religious options, we are the unwitting victims of brainwashing and can have no
confidence in the validity of our own religious beliefs.