Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Childhood Indoctrination

As I wrote in my previous post, this past weekend I attended prayer services with my father. I really really hate going, but I do it to make him happy. Afterwords I was thinking to myself, why do I hate going so much? I came up with many answers, more than I would like to list in this specific post. But one reason that stood out in my mind was that it upsets me to see all the children being brainwashed. First, I do not like how this reminds me of my own background, and second I am truly upset to see children go through this indoctrination.

I realize the term "brainwashing" is very strong and will be somewhat controversial with many of my readers. However, after looking at how children are introduced to Judaism at such a young impressionable age, I can think of no other term. The first example is, when it comes to the time in the services to take the Torah scroll(s) out of the "Holy Ark", children are encouraged to get very very excited. They run up to the Torah scroll as it is being walked around the room, or are carried by their father (women being seated separately, this can only be the father) and are told to kiss the Torah. I remember when I was young and how exciting this was for me, and I see that same excitement in the eyes of the children today.

The Torah scroll is the holiest object on earth for Jews. Orthodox Jews are taught that anyone that should even witness a Torah scroll accidentally drop must fast and give charity so that they could be forgiven. Forgiven for what? One person dropped the scroll, so I could maybe understand why he (once again women not being allowed to hold a Torah in most communities) in theory might have to ask for forgiveness. But just witnessing someones mistake, how does that require forgiveness? It doesn't.

The truth is that this whole practice of treating the scroll as an almost god like object is part of instilling an incredible reverence and fear towards the religion that is based around these scrolls. This starts at a very young age. If at 2 or 3 years old you are told to run to the Torah and kiss it, how likely are you to question what is written in the Torah later in life? Obviously this is not full proof, because plenty of people to question and even leave the faith. But the same aw and reverence instilled in me and countless other children, makes it an incredibly scary thing to do.

There are other forms of childhood indoctrination. Children being told to SCREAM out prayers before they even understand what those prayers mean. And this is the very difference between education and indoctrination. Education teaches kids, and adults to think and understand. Indoctrination and brainwashing instills habits. Habits like saying prayers and blessings blindly and habits like treating a simple scroll as if it is godly. Only after these habits are ingrained in the children they can be educated on some reasons. But by this point, the behavior is already a part of the persons identity, so the reasons don't necessarily matter.

As I said I realize this post will be more provocative than most of my previous posts. I encourage my readers that disagree to comment in the comment section bellow. I hope no one takes personal offense as I know many of my readers are religious and have children. I simply explained how I see things. I look forward to discussing and debating this with many of you.  


Now, for a technical note. I recently got back in tough with someone from my high school by the name of Steve. We hadn't spoken in about 10 years, so he was surprised to hear that I was no longer a believing Jew and that I was openly gay. He also has been reading this blog and has become a fan. Steve and a friend of his have a podcast called "Sunday Six Pack" (http://sundaysixpack.podbean.com/) where they discuss everything from sports to politics. He invited me to be a guest on his podcast that will broadcast Sunday, March 4th. I will obviously post a link to that broadcast when it happens. There should be a lot of interesting discussion and debate. So stay tuned! :)))


12 comments:

  1. You remind me of Martin Luther from the 15th century. children are meant to pray but they don't understand

    I don't agree with a lot said here, each to his own. but some things here are food to the thought

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    1. I did not say that children are meant to pray without understanding it, I am saying that is what they are taught. When i was taught to pray as a child, I did not understand a word of what I was saying. Most American Jews don't. But they are told that they cannot even mispronounce any of the words. And they say the same prayers day in and day out like a mantra.

      Thanks for reading and commenting :)

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  2. I enjoyed this post Ami ... Would love for you to list the reasons - I think it would make a great read :). As someone who is secular, the few times I've been to shul, I've found the kissing of the Torah thing a bit idolatrous ... As if God is being embodied by by the object ... I experience the kotel similarly. How was this rationalized to you in your frum education?

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    1. I will probably go into more details in future posts. This post was really more of an explanation of why being in shul makes me upset. To be honest, I kinda rushed it and it really isnt my best writing.

      I agree that the experience at the Kotel is similar. And as a kid, I never questioned it and therefore it was rationalized. I was just told that these items are that holy and this is how we show respect for them.

      Thanks as always for reading CL. I appreciate it and love the comment :)

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  3. I agree that what is done religiously with young children isn't formal education on an intellectual level. You are correct that it's more about habits and forming early emotional attachments.

    That's how toddlers learn.

    I've jokingly used the term "brainwashing" before to describe toddler learning. At this stage of development, children learn via repetition. Lots and lots of repetition. They don't have a critical filter, so you can plop them in front of a DVD, have it play on an endless loop, and they'll just absorb it.

    This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just recognizing a basic fact about cognitive development. Similar methods are used in other settings. Chances are, when you don't object to the message, you don't object to the method. It's used to teach safety - my oldest was trained never to take a step out of our apartment without holding my hand. Kids in preschool are trained to automatically start picking up the toys when the teacher sings a tidy up song. Kids are taught to get excited about birthdays, even before they can intellectually understand the concept of a calendar. Young kids may be taught to sing the national anthem long before they can understand the full meaning of the words. Kids are taught to get excited about cartoon characters. When I was younger, Free To Be You and Me was on constant rotation....you get the idea.

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    1. Brainwashing young kids is not always a bad thing. We are trying to instill healthy habits. I just feel that instiling the habit of cleaning one's self in the bathroom is more productive than instilling a belief. A belief should be a choice and that choice is being taken away from children. Why is it that the default religion of every child should be the same as their parents?

      Thanks for reading and commenting :)

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    2. It's been said that two of the greatest gifts that we give our children are roots and wings.

      I see teaching spiritual traditions and beliefs and practices to very young children, as you describe, as part of giving them roots.

      The more relevant issue here may be whether children are also given wings. Critical thinking, intellectual curiosity and skills for independence are part of that.

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    3. I am not sure what roots are worth. I guess that is my own personal struggle and issue. As long as children are given the tools so fly, to think, to be independent, than I cannot complain.

      I do not think everything about religion is bad and evil. I know plenty of people that are very happy with religion, specifically my family comes to mind.

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  4. > But just witnessing someones mistake, how does that require forgiveness? It doesn't.

    You’re being too rational. You don’t need forgiveness because someone else dropped a Sefer Torah. You need forgiveness because God would not allow the Sefer Torah to fall unless those present had done something(s) to deserve having it fall. And for that you need to do teshuva.

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    1. Being rational is a weak point of mine I guess

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    2. Me too. But when discussing Orthodoxy, you have to keep in mind that the sanctioned approach of at least the last couple of centuries is decidedly mystical.

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    3. I understand that, and that would be one of my biggest criticisms of the practices.

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