Does the teaching method in LDS Primary equal brainwashing?

[_Jason Bourne]

Really? Do you not have a lot of young kids in your ward?

A medium amount.

Every fast sunday in my ward, there is at least 3 or 4, sometimes more. The moment one kid gets up, it triggers a few more to follow suit.

Your bishop should address this.

[_Jason Bourne]

So what do you teach your kids and how?

Well, right now, I'm just trying to teach them to think. They still go to church every sunday (since my wife is still fully active). So when they get home, I basically just quiz them a little bit. Ask them what they learned about. And then I'll ask them if they agree. And then I'll ask them why. And then I'll ask them about potential issues with what they've been taught - other ways of seeing it.

Of course I do this all in a light/fun manner. My goal isn't to prove what they've learned is wrong. My goal is to get them to think about it, instead of just taking it into their brains, and letting it sit there - as if it were a fact.

I teach them to be respectful. I teach them to be loving. I teach them to be honest. I teach them to be responsible. I teach them to have fun, and enjoy life. Mostly through my own example (how I treat them, how I treat my wife, how I treat our extended family, etc.) Of course the oldest is only 7, so there's not a whole lot I can TELL them. And of course, I'm not always successful. ;)

Sounds good to me.

[_harmony]

Who's the one in the Juliann camp - insisting on using only a certain definition?

Ok, let's play:

From merriam websters:

1 : a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas

Primary is forcible? Good grief. That's just downright silly. There's nothing forcible about Primary.

"Give up"? Primary doesn't induce anyone to give up religious beliefs. Primary is where the first religious beliefs are taught.

"Contrasting regimented ideas"? Primary doesn't teach contrasting ideas (although I'll give you the "regimented" to a certain degree. Correlation has killed individuality in teaching, that's for sure). Primary teaches basic ideas.

2 : persuasion by propaganda or salesmanship

Define "propaganda and salesmanship". What you're saying is that all religious teaching that anyone gives a child is propaganda and salesmanship, and I don't agree with that.

forcible indoctrination? check

Nonsense. What's forcible about it? It's not mandatory. No one is forced to attend Primary.

give up basic religious beliefs? check (children are born with beliefs - agnostic or atheistic in my opinion)

Well, in my opinion, children are blank slates, with nothing religious ingrained at all. So why is your opinion of more worth than mine in this discussion?

contrasting regimented ideas? check

How is Primary contrasting? You haven't established that children have any basic beliefs to contrast yet.

persuasion by propoganda? check

How so? Once a week doesn't exactly amount to much of a propoganda campaign.

Go to different dictionaries, and you'll find different definitions. I also note that in your 'wiki' definition, it's noted that the APA hasn't either accepted or rejected it.

I already pointed that out, WK, long ago in my first post on the thread.

Here's another definition:

The application of a concentrated means of persuasion, such as an advertising campaign or repeated suggestion, in order to develop a specific belief or motivation.

"Concentrated"? I hardly think once a week is "concentrated". I repeatedly suggested that my children clean up their rooms (the suggestion) or there would be negative consequences (the motivation). According to you, that's brainwashing.

And another:

any method of controlled systematic indoctrination, esp. one based on repetition or confusion

But whatever, if you want to defend it based on a definition you like, go ahead.

"Controlled"? Primary in 10,000 different ward isn't exactly a controlled environment, WK. And once a week hardly qualifies as repetitious. Confused I'll give you, at least in some Primarys I've been in.

[_harmony]

This is one of those times when I just want to shake someone.

We complain here all the time that apologists don't hear our arguments. Well, geez, people. Why should they? I've demonstrated exactly why this concept does not apply to Primary children. It can't apply to children at all, [I]because children have no prior beliefs and children have no legal will[I], yet still we have critics who refuse to accept that.

Y'all are behaving just like the apologists, when faced with a definition they can't get around.

Find a different word, people. Brainwashing just isn't appropriate.

Militant indoctrination.

Militant? How is Primary militant?

Forced indoctrination.

Forced? How is Primary forced? No one is forced to attend Primary.

Passive misguided immoral indoctrination.

Oh please. Leave the hysterical rhetoric at home.