The Truth About Indoctrination

The dictionary defines indoctrination as “the act of indoctrinating, or teaching, or inculcating a doctrine, principle, or ideology, especially one with a specific point of view, as in religious indoctrination.” The word inculcate means to instill (an attitude, idea, or habit) by persistent instruction. Let’s face it. We have all been indoctrinated, both in church, at school, and home. Primarily, we are indoctrinated into the religion of our family. There may be variations among religious sects or denominations within the primary umbrella of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and others. Still, the overall concept of religion is instilled in us from the time we are old enough to attend services. There may be situations in which we might have grown up in an agnostic or atheist family, or perhaps, a family practicing a nature religion. However, we still get indoctrinated to some extent by the prevailing religious view of the country we live in. Some countries are theocracies, meaning that the prevailing religion of that country controls the government itself. In those countries, there is intense indoctrination, and very little tolerance for anything that does not fit with the prevailing view of the theocratic government.

If we are not indoctrinated into religion, we are indoctrinated into the ideals of our culture. In America, for instance, we grow up saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag in school. This is to begin indoctrinating us into country loyalty. In addition, what we are taught about history is determined perhaps more by the spin of certain historians than by the facts of a historical event. We begin, for instance, in the first grade, making turkeys out of paper plates and drawing turkeys from the outlines of our hands to celebrate Thanksgiving. What we are taught is from a white, Americanized perspective, and of course, we believe it. Children don’t know the difference. That’s how indoctrination works. If certain elements are left out of our education or skewed in a specific direction, a child doesn’t know that. Children can’t tell the difference between nectar and poison when fed that by a trusted adult. They are unable to question, research, or consider that there might be another way of looking at things. They simply accept. Unfortunately, most of us grow up continuing to accept the prevailing narrative without questioning it. We make assumptions based on what we were taught, rather than what the actual facts might be. So, as adults, we are shaped by the narrative of the dominant culture in which we live, and we perpetuate it, repeating the same ideology while demanding that our perspective is correct without considering that what we were taught could have been based solely on the agenda of those in power.

Of course, society changes over time, but it changes very slowly, and it takes a considerable amount of courage for those who see things differently to stand up to the status quo. It goes back to the parable of The Emperor’s New Clothes. In the story, the emperor is duped into thinking that he is wearing fabulous new clothes when he is naked and has on no clothes at all. Because everyone fears the emperor's wrath, no one is willing to tell him that he has been duped and that everyone can see right through to the truth of his nakedness. So, they applaud and attest to the finery the emperor is wearing. It takes one brave little boy to shout, “But he’s naked.” This is met with vitriol from the crowd. How dare the child speak the truth? Yet, they all realize in the end that the emperor is, indeed, naked. The rule of control is always that we are not to question our indoctrination, even if we can see right through it. Yet, one of the most important things that anyone can ever do is hold their indoctrination up to scrutiny. All of it needs to be questioned. In that questioning, there may be parts of it that we see as valuable, and we keep those parts. However, the important thing is that we identify those parts of our indoctrination that are not only not valuable, but perhaps harmful to us or others.

One of the most beneficial experiences I've had was when my indoctrination was challenged. I grew up in a rigorous fundamentalist religion. One uncle even told me that I would go to hell if I accepted a scholarship to attend a Presbyterian college. I accepted it anyway, and attending that college was perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me. Of course, I maintained my indoctrination, and one day, I was spouting off to a Presbyterian pre-ministerial student that something was a sin. I don’t remember what.

He asked, “Why do you believe that?”

I said, “Because the Bible says so.”

He asked, “Where do you find that in the Bible?”

I gave him the passage and verse, but I also don’t remember what that was.

He asked, “How do you know that’s what it means?”

I said, “Because the preacher says so.”

He asked, “How do you know the preacher is right?

I said, “Because he is ordained by God.”

He asked, “How do you know he is ordained by God?”

By this time, I was furious because I had no answer. I had been repeating the indoctrination I had been given without ever questioning it. I didn’t know if God had ordained the preacher or if he had announced himself as the ordained messenger of God to the congregation. I could not defend my indoctrination, and the unspoken message of this encounter was: Think for yourself.

Don’t just swallow what you are told and assume it’s the truth because it may not be the truth at all.

Too often, we think we can “prove” our indoctrination when it doesn’t stand up to the truth. Because we all have an ego and we want to be right, we want to win, we argue our indoctrination instead of allowing it to be scrutinized. However, we need to scrutinize our indoctrination more than others. We need to consider what is valuable and what has led us to be manipulated or controlled by the status quo. We must be sure, however, not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We need to keep what is worth keeping when we discard the rest. There are many elements of my fundamentalist upbringing that I maintain because they are valuable, and I can see a good logical reason for them. Those elements are things like, “love thy neighbor as thyself, let he who is without sin cast the first stone, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” These are concepts that strengthen relationships, families, and society. Amid all the judgment and condemnation that came with my childhood indoctrination, came concepts that are beneficial when applied, like Matthew 7: 3-5, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”  In other words, rather than judging others and trying to control them, we need to focus on ourselves and what we need to change to be more loving human beings. We need to question our indoctrination.

Those who seek power and control put in extra efforts, not only to indoctrinate youth, but to indoctrinate the public, and to bend us to their will. This is accomplished through “misinformation,” in other words, lies, and by infiltrating public establishments, such as demanding that the Ten Commandments be displayed in schools. It is accomplished by attempting to manipulate the media and sell us on the narrative that is most likely to allow them to retain power. Most often, any indoctrination by any group is more about establishing control than instilling the truth. It is not as much about doing what is best for the people of a society as it is about establishing and maintaining control. Not all indoctrination is harmful, but a lot of it is. Not all indoctrination is used to control people, but a lot of it is. Not all indoctrination is ego-based and self-serving, but a lot of it is, and it behooves us to take the time to evaluate our indoctrination rather than going through life repeating concepts that not only do not serve us but don’t serve humanity. Our culture or religion is irrelevant. When we examine our indoctrination, we need to think of it like panning for gold. We keep the nuggets that are valuable and worth keeping, but discard the rest. We keep those things that contribute to our happiness and well-being, as well as the happiness and well-being of others, including society as a whole. Then, don’t be afraid to discard what is not worth keeping, especially those things that are harmful or infringe upon the rights of others. Don’t be afraid to think for yourself, to question, to listen to other viewpoints, and discern which parts of your indoctrination do or do not benefit you and society.

When that Presbyterian pre-ministerial student asked me those questions in college, I had never questioned my indoctrination or even thought to question it. However, I got the message, and I began to hold my indoctrination up to scrutiny. I can tell you, it was absolutely not an easy thing to do. When we begin to examine ourselves and our indoctrination, our ego fights us on it, and we end up having a kind of war between our ears. I had to fight that war to come through on the side of understanding. What I noticed was I could see something, understand it as the truth, and my ego would say, “Yeah, but that’s not what you were taught.” There is a need to be loyal to our upbringing and indoctrination, even when we can consciously recognize that there are portions of it that don’t stand up to scrutiny. An example is that the church taught me judgment and guilt. Until I examined my indoctrination, I had never realized that through teaching judgment and an “us versus them” mentality, the church was violating the very scriptures it pretended to uphold. Matthew 7: 1, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." When I held guilt up to scrutiny, I realized that guilt served no useful purpose. Essentially, it is punishing ourselves for things we can’t change, or continuing to punish ourselves for mistakes even after we have corrected them. If we make a mistake and need to correct it, or own up to our part in making it, we don’t really do that because of guilt; we do it because we care. Making things right or giving an apology is something we do because we care about those who might have been harmed by the mistake. My examination of my indoctrination taught me that guilt was something I needed to rid myself of. Then, one day, I was doing the dishes and realized I was feeling guilty about something. When I realized that, I started feeling guilty for feeling guilty. When I realized I was feeling guilty for feeling guilty, I had to laugh. Breaking my indoctrination was already in process. I was setting myself free without realizing it, and that is the key point we need to grasp. Challenging our indoctrination, sifting through it, and defining what is and is not valuable brings a freedom of spirit. It releases us to live a happier and more comfortable life.