DiscussMormonism.com

Lately, I've been reading some of the essays of the 19th century German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer. This quote about the indoctrination of children strongly resonated with me.

If, in early childhood, certain fundamental views and doctrines are paraded with unusual solemnity, and an air of the greatest earnestness never before visible in anything else; if, at the same time, the possibility of a doubt about them be completely passed over, or touched upon only to indicate that doubt is the first step to eternal perdition, the resulting impression will be so deep that, as a rule, that is, in almost every case, doubt about them will be almost as impossible as doubt about one's own existence. Hardly one in ten thousand will have the strength of mind to ask himself seriously and earnestly--is that true?

Religion: A Dialogue, an essay by Arthur Schopenhauer. http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/22570/

He expressed similar sentiments in another essay entitled Studies in Pessimism:

There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity. For as in the case of animals, so in that of men, training is successful only when you begin in early youth.

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/schopenhauer/arthur/pessimism/chapter5.html


Schopenhauer clearly describes my upbringing. How I managed to escape from the indoctrination of my youth is still a mystery to me.

http://www.theofrak.com/2012/04/get-them-while-theyre-young.html

So the absurdity of anti-Mormonism can be indoctrinated at a very young age? Old news.

Says the believer in angels with flaming swords demanding infidelity, and scriptures translated on glowing rocks in a hat.

bcspace wrote:So the absurdity of anti-Mormonism can be indoctrinated at a very young age? Old news.

The absurdity of not believing that God was so interested in one man's libido that he sent and angel with a flaming sword to make sure his needs were met?

The absurdity of not believing that the ancestors of native Americans where Christian Hebrews, when all evidence points to them being Siberians with no belief in anything related to the Bible?

The absurdity of not believing that the afterlife can best be described in feudalistic terms?

The absurdity of not believing that Masonic handshakes are so important that not learning them will keep you out of God's presence?

The absurdity of not believing that Abraham's writings are contained in Egyptian papyrus that, when translated accurately, contain no reference anything in the Book of Abraham?

The absurdity of not believing that the application of cooking oil and magic incantations can heal the sick?

Not believing in such things takes no indoctrination at all. The default state is unbelief. It takes considerable indoctrination over the course of decades to induce most Mormons to believe.

bcspace wrote:So the absurdity of anti-Mormonism can be indoctrinated at a very young age? Old news.

Yes. As soon as my children are 18 months old I will starting showing them pictures of Joesph Smith and telling them 'this man was a false prophet.' Then when they are a little older I will have them get up in front of large groups of people and have them testify 'I know the church is not true. I know the Book of Abraham papyrus is an ordinary Funeral document. I know Joseph Smith practiced polyandry.'
Even if they choose to reject my teachings I will force them to endure at least 3 hours of it every week until they turn 18. Also if they reject my teachings it will strain and perhaps destroy our relationship completely.

Stormy Waters wrote:

bcspace wrote:So the absurdity of anti-Mormonism can be indoctrinated at a very young age? Old news.

Yes. As soon as my children are 18 months old I will starting showing them pictures of Joesph Smith and telling them 'this man was a false prophet.' Then when they are a little older I will have them get up in front of large groups of people and have them testify 'I know the church is not true. I know the Book of Abraham papyrus is an ordinary Funeral document. I know Joseph Smith practiced polyandry.'
Even if they choose to reject my teachings I will force them to endure at least 3 hours of it every week until they turn 18. Also if they reject my teachings it will strain and perhaps destroy our relationship completely.

That would be the Mormon methodology for raising kids--but I think they'd want the focus to be 180 degrees differently.

bcspace wrote:So the absurdity of anti-Mormonism can be indoctrinated at a very young age? Old news.

Yes, along with the absurdity of a 4+ billion year old (round...not flat) planet, evolution, humans who lived before a "garden of Eden" and other nonsense.

Bcspace, when you type the word "anti-Mormon" you could as easily type the word "science". Both words are synonomous in this case.

My son is making his own decision about this kind of thing. I am a theist/deist, my husband is an atheist. At the moment my son is atheist with an absolute love of all things scientific. It's his choice. I support him in it. If he had decided that he believed in God/Jesus, as I did when I was 14, then I would support him in it.
My parents did that for me.

By the way BC, I have it on good authority that one of my active LDS friends thinks that I, I assume as an apostate, is a danger to his/her children. That is breathtakingly strange don't you think. I am more than happy for my friend to talk to my son about the church, and give opinions and even bear testimony. It's then my son's choice to investigate further if he wants to.

Mary wrote:My son is making his own decision about this kind of thing. I am a theist/deist, my husband is an atheist. At the moment my son is atheist with an absolute love of all things scientific. It's his choice. I support him in it. If he had decided that he believed in God/Jesus, as I did when I was 14, then I would support him in it.
My parents did that for me.

By the way BC, I have it on good authority that one of my active LDS friends thinks that I, I assume as an apostate, is a danger to his/her children. That is breathtakingly strange don't you think. I am more than happy for my friend to talk to my son about the church, and give opinions and even bear testimony. It's then my son's choice to investigate further if he wants to.

Individuality is an anathema to organized religion.

Panopticon wrote:Lately, I've been reading some of the essays of the 19th century German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer. This quote about the indoctrination of children strongly resonated with me.

If, in early childhood, certain fundamental views and doctrines are paraded with unusual solemnity, and an air of the greatest earnestness never before visible in anything else; if, at the same time, the possibility of a doubt about them be completely passed over, or touched upon only to indicate that doubt is the first step to eternal perdition, the resulting impression will be so deep that, as a rule, that is, in almost every case, doubt about them will be almost as impossible as doubt about one's own existence. Hardly one in ten thousand will have the strength of mind to ask himself seriously and earnestly--is that true?

Religion: A Dialogue, an essay by Arthur Schopenhauer. http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/22570/

He expressed similar sentiments in another essay entitled Studies in Pessimism:

There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity. For as in the case of animals, so in that of men, training is successful only when you begin in early youth.

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/schopenhauer/arthur/pessimism/chapter5.html

Schopenhauer clearly describes my upbringing. How I managed to escape from the indoctrination of my youth is still a mystery to me.

Doesn't describe my upbringing, or the upbringing of my children. I have, by my own choice, been exposed to literature produced by the critics of the LDS Church a large majority of my 52 years, and nobody ever told me that doubt was "the first step to eternal perdition."

Furthermore, when my son spent some time with a female acquaintance in his martial arts class, whose parents began feeding him criticism after criticism of the LDS Church, I didn't say a word to him about doubt being that first step. He requested I tell him all the criticisms of the Church that I was aware of, and I did, along with my reactions to those criticisms. He indicated that he was satisfied with my explanations.

My daughters are a different matter; they both went through periods of inactivity, though not due to any criticism they'd heard of the LDS Church; rather they both just seemed to be going through rebellious phases. Both daughters are currently showing indications they may choose to come back to activity in the future.