DarkHelmet wrote: Indeed. Whenever I see a group of primary kids chanting "Follow the prophet, Follow the prophet, Follow the prophet, Don't go astray. Follow the prophet, Follow the prophet, Follow the prophet, he knows the way" it makes me think of North Korea.
Indeed. Or ameican kids singing america the beautiful reminds me of north korea too.
I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world. Joseph Smith We are “to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or in any other, or in no church at all…” Joseph Smith
Doctor Scratch wrote:I think that this sort of prompted testimony-bearing is really only one element of the "education" or "behavior modification" that kids in the Church are "forced"/encouraged to do. There is all kinds of pressure that is placed on kids: to go on a mission, to not masturbate, to bear one's testimony, to accompany the Elders to collect fast offering payments, and so on.
As to whether this is toxic and/or "brainwashing," I think it's debatable, and that it depends on the individual kid and how the parents negotiate all of it. But the pressure is clearly there.
Would you encourage your children to masturbate?
Parents put pressure on their kids in many situations. It is apart of being a parent. For example: do your homework, take out the garbage, help your mom in the kitchen, go to the store, be a good person, go to college, get a job, etc. And catholic kids? And Methodist kids? Evangelical kids? They go through their own socialization processes.
I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world. Joseph Smith We are “to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or in any other, or in no church at all…” Joseph Smith
DarkHelmet wrote: Indeed. Whenever I see a group of primary kids chanting "Follow the prophet, Follow the prophet, Follow the prophet, Don't go astray. Follow the prophet, Follow the prophet, Follow the prophet, he knows the way" it makes me think of North Korea.
Indeed. Or ameican kids singing america the beautiful reminds me of north korea too.
The only similarity between America the Beautiful and Follow the Prophet is they both have melodies. There are lots of wonderful hymns that are as emotionally moving and uplifting as America the Beautiful. Songs like Praise to the Man and Follow the Prophet are communist songs. The only thing that would complete the experience is if a giant poster of Joseph Smith was unveiled during the song while nuclear missiles are paraded down the street.
"We have taken up arms in defense of our liberty, our property, our wives, and our children; we are determined to preserve them, or die." - Captain Moroni - 'Address to the Inhabitants of Canada' 1775
why me wrote: Would you encourage your children to masturbate?
Of course.
Umm - who are these children who need to be encouraged to masturbate?
All one needs to say to children is surely:
1. What you do with your own body in privacy is no-one's affair but your own.
2. If it does not hurt, it is very unlikely to be doing you either physical or mental harm.
Zadok: I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis. Maksutov: That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
~Those who benefit from the status quo always attribute inequities to the choices of the underdog.~Ann Crittenden ~The Goddess is not separate from the world-She is the world and all things in it.~
consiglieri wrote:Probably better for kids to be raised with the idea that a testimony is something they need to work on to get for themselves, and they shouldn't think they have a testimony until they really do.
But isn't that just a more subtle brainwashing exercise? “You need to find out for yourself that the church is true” presupposes that the church is in fact true. Doubts imply you need to work on it more, while embracing it with emotion means that you “really” know for yourself. But in either case, the goal is the same—to arrive at a place where you have an emotional conviction that the church is “true” (whatever that means).
An honest intellectual integrity would entail a much more open-ended question. Rather than “working on getting a testimony for themselves” kids would be encouraged to learn the truth about the church.
It’s relatively easy to agree that only Homo sapiens can speak about things that don’t really exist, and believe six impossible things before breakfast. You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.
Analytics wrote:But isn't that just a more subtle brainwashing exercise?
You may be right about this, but I think it only fair within the context of a particular faith tradition for parents to do something to inculcate in their kids a degree of religious education and training.
I just think having their wee bairns repeat like robots in front of the congregation that they know the church is twoo to be a bit much.
The best example I ever heard of was a mother who took her pre-verbal baby up to the stand and held the baby up like a puppet in front of the microphone with the mother squatting out of sight and saying in a high-pitched, baby voice, "I know the church is true. I love my mommy and daddy."
Now, that was something.
All the Best!
--Consiglieri
You prove yourself of the devil and anti-mormon every word you utter, because only the devil perverts facts to make their case.--ldsfaqs (6-24-13)
