Religious indoctrination is real and it has been in existence from time immemorial. However, it can be either positive or negative. There are some religious leaders whose teachings and practices are not in line with the broader religious group. For instance, there are churches that you will attend and you won't be feeling lost, this is because they share similar religious ideology with you but there are some that you will have to look round to be sure if you are in a Church or somewhere else.
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The discussion about religion is a sensitive and controversial topic that could take a whole day to discuss without reaching an agreement. I have had discussions with my friends about religion especially about indoctrination. I make them understand that religion is all about indoctrination and I try to state my reasons. I cite an example that I'm a Christian because I was born in a Christian family, brought up in the way of Christ, become baptized and see the reason to continue to serve him. However, if perchance my parents were practicing Islam, African Traditional Religion, Buddhism, etc, I will grow up in that religion become indoctrinated and ensure that I become a preacher of the religion.
Religious indoctrination becomes brainwashing when a religious leader in a particular religion preaches and practice something strange and different from others in the same religion. There is a Pastor, a head of Church in Nigeria that has brainwashed his Church members to the extent that they fear him so much that they do anything he tell them to do. He was said to have married a mother, somebody's wife and two of her children, without consequences because they feel he's their spiritual father and he is doing the right thing. He has used false prophecy to scatter marriages and families, yet he still have a full congregation every Sunday. Isn't that brainwashing of the highest order?
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What is Brainwashing?
If you brainwash someone, you force them to believe something by continually telling them that it is true, and preventing them from thinking about it properly.
What is Indoctrination?
The act of indoctrinating, or teaching or inculcating a doctrine, principle, or ideology, especially one with a specific point of view:
religious indoctrination.
There so many heinous acts that people condone in the guise of religion. We tend to believe anything our religious leaders, Pastors, Reverend, Imam, Sheik and so on tell us without questioning it to know whether it is right or wrong. Meanwhile, we fail to understand that some evil people have seen religion as a fast money making business where they can pollute the minds of people, brainwash them and force them to do what they won't ordinarily have done.
There are crazy stories out there of atrocities of so-called Men of God. You hear stories of women that are seeking the fruit of the womb that Pastors will tell that they must receive Holy oil first before they can conceive. These Holy Oil isn't the normal oil that may come to mind, it means that the Pastor must have sexual relations with the woman. It is unbelievable that some gullible women will fall for this trap.
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No doubt, there are good Men of God who genuinely care about the spiritual needs of their congregation but the bad ones have infiltrated the world that it becomes very difficult to identify who is who.