Indoctrinated by Christianity

That’s what I was told. I am “too indoctrinated by Christianity to be reasoned with.” What an interesting statement.

It’s around election time especially when we hear that word a lot. Children are indoctrinated by public schools. College kids are indoctrinated by universities. Adults are indoctrinated by their religion and political affiliations.

We know the modern definition according to Webster….

The first connotation for many when hearing “indoctrination” is negative; And reading the definition doesn’t help. I think that most of us can agree that we would like to look at things critically. We would like to be able to take a look at all of the facts with a sound, logical and rational mind and then make decisions on what we believe.

But heres the thing.

Language is a funny thing. It seems to constantly be evolving. Sometimes meanings change over time; other times things just get lost in translation. For a great example of how words can mean different things take a listen to comedian Ismo. Yes, he swears and its a blog about Christianity, just roll with it.

I have so much respect for people who speak multiple languages. Years ago, prior to opening the salon, I decided to take an Italian language class at the local adult enrichment center. 12 weeks of lessons and all I could say is “Hello, my name is Liza and I would like to order spaghetti.”…. I wish I was joking. However I am now proud to say that I am on day 199 of DuoLingo Italian so maybe theres still home for me.

I digress.

Let’s dive into the origins of the word indoctrinate.

Indoctrinate originally comes from the Latin work doctrina which means “teaching” or “instruction”.

Let’s even take a deeper look into the breakdown of the word “indoctrinate”.

Sooo I’m confused. Knowing the Latin word of origin and seeing the breakdown of what makes up the word indoctrinate, I don’t see how or where the additive of “uncritically” comes in to play.

The word “indoctrinate” first appeared in English at some point in the 17th century. At that time it was used in a quite literal translation as “to teach”. Then, at some point in the 19th century, after WW1 the word began to take on new meaning. It began to be seen as derogatory. It was seen as a synonym to brainwashing and propaganda.

What changed?

Culture.

As culture changes our perspective changes. Inevitably subcultures emerge. And let’s say it all together now:

“Birds of a feather, flock together”

As humans we crave community. We all have an innate desire to belong (Yes, even us introverts). These subcultures call to us. The only question that remains is how do we determine what subculture we belong to?

I believe there are two main components.

1. The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon
2. Confirmation Bias

Have you ever thought about getting a new car and then suddenly you see everyone driving that exact car. Or maybe you get a new top in this new color you’ve never seen before and then every magazine, tv host and Jane Doe walking by you is wearing that exact color? That my friend is the Badder-Meinhof Phenomenon, also known as The Frequency Illusion.

The Frequency Illusion is the idea that once you notice something, like really notice it, for the first time, whether a car, a color, a concept, an ideology – you start to notice it everywhere you look.

Now, it is said that as the human race we have the attention span of about a goldfish, however we are also curious. So when you start to see something over and over and over it’s only natural that our curiosity would get piqued.

And hey, I think thats healthy. Curiosity is the reason we have many of the wonderful things that we have today. Someone was curious enough to think “Hey, if i do this what will happen”, “If I mess around with this, I wonder if I can make that”. All inventions begin with a “what if”.

“I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious.”

— Albert Einstein

Even the smallest of subcultures can get peoples attention, pique their curiosity, if they are loud enough.

The second component, I believe, is the Confirmation Bias. I don’t care what anyone says, as humans, we all want to be right. Trust me, I’m right. (little humor for ya there).

Subconsciously, we all look for research and results that support what we already believe. Everyone is susceptible to this. Including the researchers and scientist putting out documents, journals and warning labels.

You can find research to support just about any argument you want to make. Just look at all the fad diets out there right now!

At one point my husband and I watched a horrendous documentary that led us to attempt a vegan diet. That lasted only a few months (we couldn’t give up cheese) but we remained vegetarian for a couple of years. We read article, we watched shows, we believed we were making a healthy choice.

We eventually stopped and began went back to eating a more balanced diet including all of the food groups. Like many, with the new year around the corner, we are looking for a little jump start on Jan 1 to get healthier. We have been doing a lot of research on the carnivore diet and I gotta tell ya, it makes sense.

But how can both of these things be true? How can there be research that shows you actual data supporting that vegan and/or vegetarian lifestyle is superior AND research and data supporting that the carnivore lifestyle is superior? You can speak to extremely educated individuals in both camps as they try to sway you to believe their way is the best way.

IT. DOESN’T.MAKE.SENSE.

I choose to believe that most people are good. I don’t think the majority of people are trying to convince you of something they know isn’t true. The issue is Confirmation Bias. We find the research that supports what we already believe and ignore the rest.

These two things, The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon partnered with Confirmation Bias, make it almost impossible for someone to change their beliefs.

And THAT is where the “uncritically” gets added to the definition of indoctrination.

We all have a responsibility to think critically. To use our brains, be logical and rational and then make the decisions based in that knowledge.

The original meaning of “indoctrinate” is not bad, it is not derogatory.

For me, I believe the Bible to be true. There is scientific and historic research supporting that the Bible to true. If you are interested in learning more about why the bible is scientifically and historically true I strongly encourage you to do research on Apologetics.

Is there Confirmation Bias at play? Sure, but the same is true for an Muslim, Jew, Hindu or Atheist.

Because I believe the Bible to be true it is what I reflect every question in my life back to. Much like a Muslim would do with the Quran or Jews do with the Tanakh.

The Bible, Jesus, is my guide, my instructor, my teacher. I put my hope in Him. So yes, I do accept what He teaches me.

I am proud to be indoctrinated by Jesus.