Religious indoctrination is child abuse. Yes or no?I know this topic has been brought up before but I'm gonna go for it anyway.
I was raised in a rather strict Baptist sect called the nazarenes. I began doubting what I'd been taught very early and was agnostic by the time I reached my teens. Much of what I was taught stayed with me however. To this day I find things in my mind put there by well meaning elders looking to teach me "the way".
The problematic thing is that most of these ideas and thought patterns are destructive and even debilitating. Teaching a child that they're always being watched and judged, down to the very thoughts in their mind is a particularly grievous form of brainwashing.
I had an amazing anthropology professor who freed me in many ways, though I doubt he ever knew what he'd done. Despite being a nonbeliever I still carried the conviction that my angry or lustful or covetous thoughts made me a bad person, whether acted upon or not. Learning that we are mammals, that those thoughts are universal and naturally occurring, blew my mind. I had still been living the idea that my thoughts defined me, not the actions I chose. That the desire for physical closeness and yes sex were not hell worthy offenses but biological needs that are actually important for our well being was astounding.
My indoctrination began so early and was so ingrained in my thought patterns that I couldn't even see it. That seems to me an awful weight to lay on a person, any person.

The idea of service to man and god is another problematic teaching. Yes people who dedicate their lives to others are admirable and praiseworthy. The idea, however, that your sole worth as an individual lies in how you may be used for others is fucking abhorrent. This one is so engrained in our culture that we all basically accept the notion of "you don't work, you don't eat". Self help books are full of ways to make yourself a better tool for others to use. Parents are expected to give up their lives and dreams to raise children. We vilify parents who "work too much". The negation of the self is so deeply entwined with religion, it's appalling. What is a self for if not to be fulfilled but thats one more thing religion robs us of.

Thoughts?