Indoctrination is a word we usually recognise as something from the past, used by dictators to control their people, using propaganda, or using phrases over and over until they were ingrained in the public's brains. Indoctrination makes you, unconsciously, think of an unintelligent person - or at least an irrational, unobservant one. Surely someone who was being indoctrinated would notice? And wouldn't logic be against them? Being told all Jews are animals - that's not logical, who would believe that?
But it's terribly rude and arrogant to consider yourself smarter than others - and I'm sure that if entire countries could be indoctrinated so well, so could you.
"But!" I hear someone cry "We have better systems today - democracies, freedom of speech and thought, people can't be indoctrinated, we get to make up our own minds!" etc, etc. True, in a sense, but that will come later. Let's first look at the definition for indoctrination (dictionary.com)
1. to instruct in a doctrine, principle, ideology, etc., esp. to imbue with a specific partisan or biased belief or point of view.
3.to imbue with learning.
Well, to explain (often in dictionaries you end up just looking up more words), imbuing something is soaking it up, so you would be saturated with the doctrine, principle, ideology, etc. Inculcate is the word which really strengthens the view - inculcating an idea is teaching it persistently, eagerly, repeating it over and over.
Indoctrination is, in my opinion, a form of manipulation. If you're smart, you can make someone know something so deeply, not only do they not question it, they also think they thought it up in the first place.
This doesn't mean everyone who believes strongly in an ideal has been indoctrinated with it - sometimes people have really tested and tried their ideals, or just really, honestly, want to follow it with nothing involved.
But their is indoctrination in our world today - and it's not far away, in one of those countries we associate with badness and poverty, like the giant country of 'Africa', or China, or Mexico. It's right here, on our doorstep.
I've gone to school since I was four, and ever since I was old enough to think about it, I've noticed it. It's propaganda for indoctrination - people are indoctrinating us with evolutionary theories. They're also ramming 'religion' down our throats, yes, but that's so obvious people actually shy away from it. No, the indoctrination in our schools is so subtle I doubt any of the staff actually know it - that's the talent of indoctrination, you end up believing it yourself, believing it's your idea.
Although, going to a Catholic secondary school, I've been forced to sit through morning 'prayers' and have had to leave school as everyone else heads off to Mass, or miss half a day while the other students have confession, I've also had evolution, and it wasn't set on the calender as "Evolution Class - nonbelievers go home" or anything like that.
Examples of this are when in History class your teacher says something like 100,000 years ago was the Mesolithic Stone Age (I haven't checked that date, but replace Mesolithic Stone Age with the correct answer) or in Geography class where the teacher tells you about how the plates were formed, billions of years ago.
This is all Old Earth theory, belonging in the evolutionary standpoint, and it isn't brought in as a theory, it's brought in as fact. It's brought in in such a way, that even if you have a questioning mind, it seems like a thing you would never question. It's put in on Discovery Channels, and in Wikipedia. All of our information has gradually turned evolution into a fact - until we no longer question it, it's just reliable. Evolution scientists actually help promote the idea that evolution is right and everything else (mainly religion or Christianity) is wrong, by making it out that they (religion etc) indoctrinate people and that evolution began as a way of finding answers.
Both true, yes - religions have indoctrinated people before, and evolution was just a man trying to find an explanation for the world around him.
But times have changed - now evolution is dragged in so subtly we all subconsciously decide it's true.
I'm not saying evolution shouldn't be taught. I think, with the freedom of speech, all theories have the right to be heard. But I do think it should be taught honestly, from an objective standpoint - as should religion. And until we figure out how to do that, we can't manipulate people into believing it.
Today a large majority of people in Ireland believe in evolution (even if they're Catholics) and the ones who don't usually don't do it for a logical reason, they just remain loyal to beliefs which state evolution is wrong. Which is also the wrong way to go - and makes anyone who doesn't believe in evolution look stupid.
I'm a Christian. I go to school, and I'm sick and tired of hearing people being manipulated every day and being unable to do anything about it. Please take indoctrination out of our schools, off our televisions and out of our networks.
Thank you.
