[Q]: are children brought up in a religious home indoctrinated?

Many of my acquaintances who are "believers" were born into a religious house-hold so their spirituality was ready-made.
I myself was raised up in a Christian household and was a “follower” but I wasn't a strong “believer”. I used to mimic the mannerisms of the church folks and memorize verses of the bible because I deemed such to be "righteousness" plus I was afraid to "burn in hell" as such rhetoric was reiterated to me much in my early years.

I did begin to question how significant faith was to my identity because if I was born into a muslim houshold surely I would have been memorizing the Quaran instead and paying obeisance to Allah, it was only by chance I became a christian because I was born into such a household which carried that religion as it's staple.

It made me begin to ask questions about my faith and how most of my life I was encouraged and nurtured to be a "good christian"

As much as I believe in the importance of spiritualism I do not believe it’s hereditary. I just feel if a child is brought up in a Christian or Muslim home then their faith must have been involuntary and dictated to them but I guess a parent will never nurture their children in what they believe would not profit their child.

IMHO, ain't nowt wrong being nurtured and raised to be a good christian, good muslim, good olumba, good ifaolokunasoroDAYO, good citizen or what have you, methinks.

Chai, on second thought maybe my itchy fingers shouldn't have wandered into this thread. . . have stumbled across some of your indepth and well-thought out epistilistic posts on nl. . . and me and anything that involves engaging the brain does not mix like chalk and cheese, lol . . . . I feel like a fish outta water . . . . a deer caught in the headlight . . . . Of course i am not running away, i looove challenges. . . . So i am coming back oh, i nor run at all. . . .


thinking out loudly whilst legging it out of the thread as fast as my bow legs can carry me - off to find a thread where there is a fight going on . . . .erm i meant er a thread with a bully that needs to be brought down a peg or two, lol . . . .

Ha and maybe i should start giving my brain some credit and hope oh, and perhaps i should stay on this thread jare.

But glancing at that first paragraph, na wetin that indoctorinated mean sef, of course i know it definitely has something to do with doctor, i am 100 % sure of this. . . . Ha it is distasteful to boast, but what an intelligent brain i am blessed with, wow i surpass myself all the time, lol.

Busy_body:
na wetin that indoctorinated mean sef, of course i know it definitely has something to do with doctor, i am 100 % sure of this. . . . Ha it is distasteful to boast, but what an intelligent brain i am blessed with, wow i surpass myself all the time, lol.

Indoctrination is foisting your doctrines on another person.

Busy_body:

IMHO, ain't nowt wrong being nurtured and raised to be a good christian, good muslim, good olumba, good ifaolokunasoroDAYO, good citizen or what have you, methinks.

Well isn't the religious disposition already decided for the child? I mean how different is being raised a christian etc to a parent wanting their child to be a doctor or actress and so nurtures them in that particular pathway? Shouldn't the child be left alone and once old enough to form their own reasonable opinion have a choice in the matter that will ultimalty and primarily affect them?
How can a small child who may not fully comprehend the weight of such religion decide at an early age they want to be a Muslim or Christian? Were they not encouraged to follow a path that they wouldn't have otherwise even considered in their care-free thoughts?

P.S. I'm just thinking out loud and already I perceive that there are some holes in my laid out thoughts.

Ultimately parents should have no business deciding the religion that their children adhere to. This is an area where the individual is entirely responsible for himself. All they can do, and should do as parents, is to be good examples of their faiths bearing in mind that the decision to belong to that particular faith is up to the child.

This whole concept of indoctrination is wrong and carries consequences that follow us even after this life is over.

Bawss1:

Ultimately parents should have no business deciding the religion that their children adhere to. This is an area where the individual is entirely responsible for himself. All they can do, and should do as parents, is to be good examples of their faiths bearing in mind that the decision to belong to that particular faith is up to the child.

This whole concept of indoctrination is wrong and carries consequences that follow us even after this life is over.

I completely agree.

My father is Muslim. My mother was Catholic. I turned to pentecostalism in my University dayz

An Upright life more than dry indoctrination will go a long way in putting a child on the right path.

It's good to question things. We are humans with brains, right? The issue is just like a Muslim becoming a Christian. However in my next life, I'd still come back a Christian. Why? It has not prevented me from pursuing my dreams. And I don't feel restricted. I'm not perfect but as I grow older I even want to increase in my spiritual life as a Christian. I have found what works for me. I do not consider it a task going to church on Sundays, even though I had grumbled as a kid when dragged to church as a kid.

I do not find it wrong instilling your faith in your kids. We could as well throw away our culture and let our kids decide if they want to be Yoruba or Igbo. Because culturally, how have we progressed in Nigeria? How has our culture encouraged 'free thinking'?

Lol, at busybody. . .still doing what you do best.

stillwater:

It's good to question things. We are humans with brains, right? The issue is just like a Muslim becoming a Christian. However in my next life, I'd still come back a Christian. Why? It has not prevented me from pursuing my dreams. And I don't feel restricted. I'm not perfect but as I grow older I even want to increase in my spiritual life as a Christian. I have found what works for me. I do not consider it a task going to church on Sundays, even though I had grumbled as a kid when dragged to church as a kid.

I do not find it wrong instilling your faith in your kids. We could as well throw away our culture and let our kids decide if they want to be Yoruba or Igbo. Because culturally, how have we progressed in Nigeria? How has our culture encouraged 'free thinking'?

Lol, at busybody. . .still doing what you do best.

I believe culture is largely different from faith i.e. you can be a native Jew but not adhere to Judaism - culture is hereditary not faith.

Culture is linear. Faith is personal. I cannot decide which family I'm born into but I can decide which religion I want to adopt.  I can also decided to stop following a particular religion but I can never divorce myself from my inherited culture.
The only similarities between these two is that a parent can teach a child their culture but you cannot necessarily instill in them pride the same way you can nurture your child in a religion but cannot ultimately instill in them faith.
I used to observe the rites of Christianity i.e reading scriptures, praying + fasting. . .but that did nothing to increase my faith in God.
If God granted us free will surely every child born into a religious home should be awarded that God-given right.

Bawss1 explained it best when he said religious parents should first be an upstanding example of their faith so that when their child is wise enough to comprehend the magnitude of a particular religion they can thus "choose" of their own accord.

I remember a conversation I had a long time ago with a Muslim male. I asked him many questions about Islam. I finally asked him if he was a Muslim because he was born into the religion, he more or less admitted that he was. I then asked him if he thought he would have been a christian if his parents were and he refused to answer.

Now if he had arrived to such belief (Islam) independent of his parents I am sure he would have been confident enough to answer my question.

Most of us inherited our faith. Am a xtain but i fink if i was born into anoda religion i would hv found my way back to xtain. It fits into my emptiness,search 4 fortress n blend with my nature.

@emofine,pardon my curiosity r u married?

Plutarch:

Most of us inherited our faith. Am a xtain but i fink if i was born into anoda religion i would hv found my way back to xtain. It fits into my emptiness,search 4 fortress n blend with my nature.

@emofine,pardon my curiosity r u married?

lol no I'm not married - I'm still at the early stage of life.

Ok. What do u mean by early stage of life? I presume u r not a teenager

emofine:

I believe culture is largely different from faith i.e. you can be a native Jew but not adhere to Judaism - culture is hereditary not faith.
Culture is linear. Faith is personal. I cannot decide which family I'm born into but I can decide which religion I want to adopt.  I can also decided to stop following a particular religion but I can never divorce myself from my inherited culture.
The only similarities between these two is that a parent can teach a child their culture but you cannot necessarily instill in them pride the same way you can nurture your child in a religion but cannot ultimately instill in them faith.
I used to observe the rites of Christianity i.e reading scriptures, praying + fasting. . .but that did nothing to increase my faith in God.
If God granted us free will surely every child born into a religious home should be awarded that God-given right.

Culture and religion are intertwined. You wonder why many Africans are skeptical and refuse to practice their culture, based on the fetish/religious practices of our cultures. To really really practice your culture you must accept the religion. Can you separate a traditionalist that practices his culture from the religion? How plausible is that? Even Fela, as unreceptive to the White man's religion, still practiced a religion in the name of fully accepting that he is an African man. 
By the way, you can divorce yourself from your inherited culture through naturalization and citizenship. Also immigrants moved to America cause they could care less for the monarchical culture of Great Britain.

Bawss1 explained it best when he said religious parents should first be an upstanding example of their faith so that when their child is wise enough to comprehend the magnitude of a particular religion they can thus "choose" of their own accord.

That's a no-brainer. I doubt there's a religion that allows the parents to act differently from what they preach. Human beings would act as what they feel like at the end of the day. In James 1:22 we are employed as Christians to be doers (both big and small) of the word not hearers only. The bible also went forward to say if we don't, we are only deceiving ourselves. So Bawss isn't saying anything a normal human being shouldn't know.

@ stillwater

I was in dialogue with a pagan here on Nairaland and your statement reiterates what he said so I will revise my former comment and concede you are indeed right concerning traditional beliefs standing with culture however I still maintain faith is not hereditary . . we may inherit rites and practices but each individuals faith in God is personal. I used both words (faith and religion) interchangeably during much of the course of this topic which is an error on my part.

I guess I was evaluating the relationship between religion and culture using my own background as a point of reference. I view Christianity as independent from my culture. . . .but I suppose I can consider certain traditional beliefs (pertaining to my ethnic group) as an attachment to my own culture.

Plutarch:

Ok. What do u mean by early stage of life? I presume u r not a teenager

I mean I am not yet an accomplished woman, I still have some rungs on the ladder to climb so I'm only at the beginning. . .well I'm not a teenager anymore, I evolved recently

Congrats on your evolution.

What do u mean by "accomplished woman"? Do u hope to hv it all b4 talkn marriage or u r just still an undergraduate?

Plutarch:

Congrats on your evolution.

What do u mean by "accomplished woman"? Do u hope to hv it all b4 talkn marriage or u r just still an undergraduate?

I meant I am not matured and neither have I acquired significant gains in life before I enter that stage - I believe people may have to pass through certain stages before they qualify for marriage. . . and yes, I am an undergraduate.

Yeah u r right 2 an a gr8 extent IMO. Wish u d best in ur studies. U seem intelligent to me;i am not d first person to observe that i believe.

emofine:

Indoctrination is foisting your doctrines on another person.

Your Teacher deserves a knock on the head for teachering you nansense

emofine:


P.S. I'm just thinking out loud and already I perceive that there are some holes in my laid out thoughts.

Ouch Okay i will behave

stillwater:


Lol, at busybody. . .still doing what you do best.

Awww, you don't have to point out to everyone how intelligent i am nau, even me sef gets embarassed talking about it, i don't like drawing attention to it at all, see what you caused now my face has turned pink from blushing

Being brought up in a Christian home is different to being "born" into a religion. In Christianity there are "opt ins" i.e. you make a decision to follow Christ. There are situations where we opt to follow different belief systems to those we grew up with and are familiar with, that's an entirely different thing.

Most people I know "born into a religion" know the tenets of their religion from an early age i.e. Roman Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Hindu, Sikh et al. There is no "opting in" in most of these cases as faith is an inherent part of their every day life and outlook.

Wao! Cant believe I read every single line.
For me ,
Being born into a religion is a privilege.
I think I will always chose to be a Christian,
as this works for me. Just as the others believe in theirs.
Christianity is not forced on children, it is a way of life for
a Christian parent to teach their children what they belief on.
But becoming a Christian is a conscious effort of every child
at a later age, RECIEVING CHRIST , IYKWIM.
Being born into a Christian home does not qualify you
being a Christian, except for documentations purposes.

PatKing:

Being born into a Christian home does not qualify you
being a Christian, except for documentations purposes.

In the African context (I have to say "African" because I've heard this from people from different parts of the continent), people often say "I'm Christian because I was born into a Christian home and grew up Christian", not realising that what makes you a Christian is not reciting reams of scripture nor attending church nor praying, but consciously deciding to follow Christ.

Being "born again" to many is like a brownie or scout badge, doesn't mean you follow the tenets of the religion, it's just something you are (almost like ethnicity).