To Wash or Not to (brain) Wash.

Religion can often be a subject of accusations and angry debates. Some people do not always have the confidence to speak openly about their beliefs, whether that lies with God, science, or because they have no clue at all is itself up for de-bate. To investigate this I’m going to look at some of the different opinions that individuals have shared with me.Throughout my investigation I have tried to approach the subject with an open mind. While consistency is key, I have primarily focused on Chris-tianity as this was the most common religion brought up during research.The target audience for my research are students, all of whom I ask their

religion, if they have one, and what there views are on religion and if they believe brain washing is part of the process.Names have been changed to protect individual identities during the research process.Student 1 says he is Catholic:“[...] It works for me as a lifestyle and spiritual choice. [It is] 90% of the rules I follow. Like any oth-er religion, you have to exclude the silly things in dogma.”A lot of people I have spoken to seem to have this opinion. They tend to believe that reli-gion’s a ‘way of life’, where as they don’t necessarily want to follow the religions’ text book.Student 2 says she is Atheist:“I’m not completely opposed to it. I am

against the idea of forcing religion upon people but otherwise I have no problem... people have a right to believe what they want.”This is the sort of attitude that many people have. What do you think? Do you think people are entitled to their own opinion? Even if you disagree with what they say.

Some people I have spoken to believe that some religions brainwash

younger members of the population. This goes against the whole belief of people opposed to forcing religion on people.This is quite a taboo subject. I am aware that people believe strongly about this topic of ‘brainwashing’. I am certainly not confident enough to be talking about whether a religion does this or not. So I have asked a couple of people what they think. First up is a Vicar of the Church of England:

“When someone questions a reli-gion as to whether brainwashing is part of their practise, this person is obviously lost in life and needs guidance, we as a church offer this guidance with a way of uniting and using the bible as our ‘rulebook’ as such.”I have also consult-ed a few people that are atheists, peo-ple who also have strong opinions on the topic of brain-washing, here is one of their opinions:“We have scientific proof that religion

does not exist, it’s all there written on paper. I’ve known people perfectly content in life, that have been drawn into monasteries ,and what I can only assume now, to be hypnotised into believing the world is corrupt to an extreme extent.”Brainwashing can go both ways. A lot of religious people say that atheists have brainwashed people of their faith. Where-as non-religious people have also argued that people of faith have brain-

washed non-reli-gious people. I’m sure there’s a tongue twister in there somewhere.Student 3 says he is atheist:

“Religion should be like tobacco, alco-hol, and marriage... age controlled. The mass brainwashing of children into religious cults is un-forgivable. Peo-ple should be able to chose their own spirituality when they’re old enough to appreciate how

big the choice is, and individual spiri-tuality is better than a group spiritual identity.”He had been bap-tised as a child, and was told that he had to make his own choice when older, to commit his life to God, and this meant being ‘confirmed’.After attending various events, including ‘Soul Survivor’, and ‘New Wine’, he then got confirmed. Since that part of life, his views have changed. He thought he was alone, but it seems

other people have had similar experi-ences:Student 4 says:“The difference between faith and religion is this; religion is organised, being told what and how to act on those beliefs. Faith is a persons individual belief and how they decide to act on that belief.”Student 4 ex-pressed that he still is a Christian. But believes the church brought him up in a way which was in-correct.

I have discovered that a lot of peo-ple get confused between religion and spirituality. Some students said they were the same thing, where as some students said that religion should not be mixed up with spirituality.Student 5 says he is spiritual:“Once religion becomes more polit-ical, like trying to get people to join, religion as a reason is not something I agree with.Personally I believe something on a more spiritual level, that there is more there than we can see.Spirituality is born in a person and devel-ops in the person. It may be kick started by a religion, or it may be kick started by a revelation.

Spirituality extends to all facets of a person’s life. Spiritu-ality is chosen while religion is often times forced. Being spiritual to me is more important and better than being religious.”What now?Personally, religion and spirituality is a scary subject.But my opinion will most likely, not mean anything to you! I tend to be open minded to all religions. Because of my background, believing that there is a god, I have never been against any particular religion. I don’t know if the Christian faith would accept me for this. Or if I will be reject-ed for not commit-ting to one religion.My intention is not to stir things up and cause argument, but to simply work out what is going on in this world and whether being here now is all we have or not?!

Are religions brain washing the young members of our, modern, culture rich society?

How do you feel about this topic? Feel free to join in with the discussion - #ToWashOrNotToWash

Erik Selby

22 Friday November 30 2012 | Intellectual Student

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