Indoctrination is instruction in the fundamentals of a system of belief (such as a philosophy, religion or science). Socrates (central bare-chested figure) about to drink hemlock as mandated by the court. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ...

The National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual defines indoctrination as "the initial security instructions/briefing given a person prior to granting access to classified information." Set within the contexts of religion, this would serve perfectly as a definition of the preparation for receiving esoteric knowledge not generally available to the world-at-large, a preparation that is a prerequisite for initiation into a mystery religion. Compare entries for Gnosticism or Catechism. The National Industrial Security Program, or NISP, is the nominal authority (in the United States) for managing the needs of private industry to access classified information. ... Etymology Esoteric is an adjective originating during Hellenic Greece under the domain of the Roman Empire; it comes from the Greek esôterikos, from esôtero, the comparative form of esô: within. It is a word meaning anything that is inner and occult, a latinate word meaning hidden (from which... For other uses, see Initiation (disambiguation). ... A mystery religion is any religion with an arcanum, or secret wisdom. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Codex Manesse, fol. ...

At Princeton the Cognitive Science Laboratory's "WordNet 2.0" defines "indoctrination" as "teaching someone to accept doctrines uncritically." [1]. Another serviceable partial definition, drawn from the website of The Henry Wise Wood High School [2] is "To teach systematically partisan ideas— propaganda." This definition opens the most basic difference between indoctrination and education: indoctrination teaches the doctrina that structures a subject, as observed from within, whereas educatio literally "leads out" from a subject, one that is being dispassionately observed from without. Princeton University is a coeducational private university located in Princeton, New Jersey in the United States of America. ... Doctrine, from Latin doctrina, (compare doctor), means a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system. ...

Criticism

Noam Chomsky has been quoted saying, "For those who stubbornly seek freedom, there can be no more urgent task than to come to understand the mechanisms and practices of indoctrination. These are easy to perceive in the totalitarian societies, much less so in the system of 'brainwashing under freedom' to which we are subjected and which all too often we serve as willing or unwitting instruments." Avram Noam Chomsky, Ph. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The subtle effects of a highly indoctrinated environment may rise unexpectedly to the surface in examining a culturally-freighted term such as "knee-jerk skeptic": the hearer recognizes immediately the cognate expression "knee-jerk liberal", describing a person considered to be thoughtlessly and inappropriately liberal, instinctively and on all occasions. Then the sub-text presents itself: it has been assumed that, conversely there are areas where a critical response is thoughtless and inappropriate. As Robert Jay Lifton has argued, in his discussions about thought-reform and totalism, the objective of these phrases or slogans is less to continue reflective conversations than to replace them with emotionally appealing phrases, for example, the opposing slogans "blood for oil" or "cut and run," both of which replace productive dialogue about objectives in the Iraq war. Skepticism (Commonwealth spelling: Scepticism) can mean: Philosophical skepticism - a philosophical position in which people choose to critically examine whether the knowledge and perceptions that they have are actually true, and whether or not one can ever be said to have absolutely true knowledge; or Scientific skepticism - a scientific, or practical...

Religious indoctrination

A recent study of child abuse in Samoa found that, "Religious indoctrination was significant in the promotion and prevention of abuse and family violence, depending on one's perspective," [3] thus suggesting that the effects of such indoctrination could vary from the positive to the negative.

Religious indoctrination is a subject of academic interest. An upcoming volume, The Costs of Autonomy: Personal Essays on the Morality of Religious Indoctrination is planned to analyze the effects of religious indoctrination on academics.

See also

• Behavior modification
• Boot camp
• Brainwashing
• Jesus Camp, Award-winning documentary on Evangelical Christian right children in the United States
• Manipulation
• Propaganda
• Self-deception
• Socialization

This article is about the behaviorist technique. ... Boot Camp is a software assistant made available by Apple Computer that assists users in installing Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (both Home and Professional Editions) on Intel-based Macintosh computers. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Jesus Camp, a Magnolia Pictures release directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, who previously made The Boys of Baraka together, is a 2006 documentary about a charismatic Christian summer camp for children who spend their summers learning and practicing their prophetic gifts and being taught that they can take... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Look up Evangelical in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The word manipulation has a number of different meanings, among which are: To treat or operate with the hands in a skillful manner. ... An Australian anti-conscription propaganda poster from World War One Propaganda is a certain type of message presentation directly aimed at manipulating the opinions or behavior of people, rather than impartially providing information. ... Self-deception is a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and argument. ... Socialization is the process by which human beings or animals learn to adopt the behavior patterns of the community in which they live. ...

External links

• Overcoming Religious Indoctrination Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc