I often wonder what it is like to be a teenager in the extreme Bible Belt community where I teach. I am curious how they view their religions. Do they REALLY buy into the hype, or do they just claim to believe what they are told to believe? I’ve already disclosed in my last post the hypocrisy that I deal with here, and how I’ve witnessed many who do not live the life that they claim to live, one based on the beliefs that they claim to hold. My students often bring up church, in conversations with each other. They discuss having went to church on the weekend, or bible study during the week, oftentimes in a way of speaking that does not portray excitement or fulfillment.
Today, in the elective class that I teach for career readiness, my students were instructed to write down the top twenty things that they enjoy doing with their time. Out of twenty-seven students, only two placed “going to church” on their list. This realization, that church is not their top priority, got me thinking about childhood indoctrination, as well as the other unnatural ways in which religions have spread, infecting our world in an obscene way.
I grew up in South Louisiana, in a Catholic family, but a “southern” Catholic family. That means that we were “Catholic” but did not attend church except for weddings and funerals (thankfully!). My mother sent me to bible study in my teenage years, because it was expected, but I spent that time daydreaming, on the days that I didn’t skip out. I remember sitting in these classes, and in church, listening to the priest, and thinking about how ridiculous he sounded. I remember reading the bible at twelve, and not believing a thing in it. I claimed to be Catholic because I did not know that there was anything else. I thought that I was the only person in the world who didn’t believe in “God.” There was no such thing as a nonbeliever in my community. I didn’t believe, but I was alone. Knowing my own story reminds me that many of my students, those who did not put church on their top twenty, may be in the same boat as I was at their age.
Looking at my own children, specifically my seven year old daughter, I see how hard a parent must have to work in order to indoctrinate a child into believing such hogwash. My daughter was raised in a secular home. No magic, no superstition, just facts and love. She asked me one day about what was “God” and why did people believe in it. She laughed when I mentioned people believing that a man lived in the sky and made things happen magically. She reminded me that we’ve been in a plane many times, and that my husband is a pilot, and we’ve NEVER seen a man in the sky. Her mind may be young, but she is not gullible, and was never brainwashed into believing something that simply isn’t natural. On one occasion, her teacher inappropriately mentioned “angels” in class. My daughter came immediately home to tell me. She said: “Mommy, if there were ladies flying around I would have seen them!” I told her that she was absolutely correct, and that angels were not real. I do not believe, not even for a second, that a young mind would naturally create a “god” in their own minds, without being fed this story by someone whom they trust. And this realization disgusts me. These children are not Christian children, Muslim children, or any other religion; they are shaped that way, and it is wrong.
Later in my work day, I was teaching “Russification” to my seniors, and that is when this blog topic further brewed in my mind. For those who do not know, “Russification” was when Czar Alexander II of Russia forced all people living within the Russian grasp to adopt Eastern Orthodoxy. It did not matter what their religious beliefs were up until that point; they had no choice but to convert. You see, most theists don’t understand the history of their religion. They don’t understand that Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism have spread their claim by missionary work, unlike other faiths. They don’t understand the extent of forced conversions by the Muslims and Christians: the Inquisition and Russification are only a small portion of the history of these religions. Christianity was forced on so many, and still is today. Arabic Muslims invaded much of Africa, and traded with them as well, spreading their disease. Emperors who converted to Christianity for political reasons, invaders who converted for land, Aboriginal people who converted for their lives; there is nothing natural about the spread of religion. There will never be a child who is born and will speak of Allah without being told, and there will never be an aborigine who will speak of him either. They may create their own imaginary friends, but not these. These religions are spread by the ideas of punishment and reward. Do what you are told or suffer. It is forced; it is not natural.
As I teach these moments of history I hope that my students realize that their religions are not what they are told, and that they are being brainwashed to believe something that their common sense tells them is impossible. Everything is resting on their ability to recognize the deceit and break their chains as I broke mine so many years ago.
@ScholarMrsV
