The deep-seated dogma, resistance to critical thinking, and social isolation can stifle their intellectual and emotional growth, making it harder for them to engage with the broader, more inclusive, and scientifically grounded understanding of the world. Overcoming these barriers requires a supportive environment that encourages open-mindedness, curiosity, and intellectual humility.
Society has a responsibility to intervene when children’s development is being hindered by extreme indoctrination, particularly when this impacts their ability to function in a pluralistic society. However, interventions should be designed to respect the child's autonomy and rights while encouraging them to become contributing members of society. Any efforts aimed at rehabilitating and reprogramming heavily indoctrinated children must carefully uphold their birth rights, ensuring that the process focuses on healing and empowerment rather than imposing new constraints. This creates an ethical and responsible framework for nurturing well-rounded, critical thinkers.
Damage control is important - Empowerment, Not Control: The goal should be to empower the child to make their own choices, not to impose a new set of beliefs.
Avoid keluar dari mulut buaya, masuk mulut harimau - Any process that involves "reprogramming" must be handled delicately to avoid replacing one form of indoctrination with another.
Birth rights - Every child has the right to think independently and question the environment they are raised in. Children deserve access to balanced, unbiased education that fosters critical thinking and self-awareness. This includes protection from indoctrination that stunts personal growth or creates harmful mental frameworks.
A nurturing, non-judgmental space must be created where children feel safe to express thoughts and ideas different from what they’ve been brainwashed since birth.
Children raised with rigid indoctrination are more likely to perpetuate the same beliefs to their offspring, creating a cycle that limits intellectual and spiritual freedom. This intergenerational transmission of dogma may prevent future generations from embracing universalist principles or scientific discoveries, further entrenching them in a narrow worldview and hindering societal progress.
Programs must focus on helping children rebuild their capacity for independent thought. This includes teaching them how to question, analyze, and reflect on the ideas they've been taught. Indoctrinated children often suffer emotional trauma. Providing counseling, emotional support, and mentorship is crucial to helping them understand their own emotions and thoughts.
To delearn & relearn: A good start in their reprogramming would be to teach these children the scientific truth about shared human ancestry, genetics, and the common struggles and triumphs of humanity. Education based on truth can dismantle harmful ideologies, foster genuine empathy, and promote unity by helping children understand that they are part of a global human family, bound by shared DNA, history, and destiny. This is the path toward greater compassion, understanding, and lasting peace.
In the 21st Century Childhood Indoctrination With Falsehood Is The Main Cause Of Cognitive Dissonance and Intellectual Confusion: Heavily indoctrinated children are often taught rigid dogmatic views that contradict well-established scientific knowledge, such as evolution or the idea of a common ancestry. When exposed to universalist ideas that emphasize the interconnectedness of humanity or scientific concepts that suggest all life shares a common origin, they may experience cognitive dissonance. This internal conflict can lead to confusion, anxiety, and a resistance to accept new perspectives, as their core beliefs may feel threatened.
The deep-seated dogma, resistance to critical thinking, and social isolation can stifle their intellectual and emotional growth, making it harder for them to engage with the broader, more inclusive, and scientifically grounded understanding of the world. Overcoming these barriers requires a supportive environment that encourages open-mindedness, curiosity, and intellectual humility.
Universalism promotes ethical systems based on shared human rights, empathy, and global citizenship, which can conflict with religious teachings that emphasize adherence to divine commands or group-specific moralities. Indoctrinated individuals almost inevitably would struggle to adopt or even comprehend ethical frameworks that prioritize humanistic values over religiously dictated ones, leading to moral rigidity or an inability to engage with contemporary global ethical issues like climate change, social justice, or human rights.
Children in institutional care like GISHB Ikhwan Home Care can suffer severe psychological damage if exposed to neglect, abuse, or poor caregiving. They may develop attachment disorders, struggle with emotional regulation, or experience trauma, leading to conditions like PTSD. Cognitive and developmental delays can occur due to a lack of mental stimulation or a toxic environment, causing poor academic performance and social difficulties. Low self-esteem, identity confusion, and behavioral issues such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder or Conduct Disorder are common. Mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and even substance abuse may arise as coping mechanisms. These children often face challenges transitioning into adulthood, struggling with unhealthy relationships, economic instability, and intergenerational trauma. They may also develop institutionalization syndrome, becoming overly reliant on structured environments and struggling with independence. Without proper support, they are vulnerable to exploitation and manipulation. The long-term impact can be profound, affecting their ability to lead fulfilling, productive lives and perpetuating cycles of trauma across generations.
Difficulty in Embracing Diversity and Inclusivity: Indoctrination often involves a narrow worldview that focuses on particular religious or cultural in-groups, sometimes accompanied by a belief in their superiority. Universalism, on the other hand, encourages a recognition of the equality and shared humanity of all people. Children raised in GISHB homes may find it difficult to appreciate diversity or engage in inclusive social practices, as they have been taught to view the world in binary terms (believers vs. non-believers, righteous vs. sinful).
While religious or ideological belief systems can offer comfort, community, and a sense of meaning, the process of indoctrination—particularly when it involves fundamentalism—can impair critical cognitive and emotional development in young children. These negative changes can persist into adulthood, affecting their ability to think critically, empathize, and function in a complex and diverse world. Therefore, fostering environments that encourage open inquiry, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence is essential to protect the brain's development and allow children to reach their full potential.
Social and Relational Deficits Indoctrination, especially when it involves strong "us versus them" thinking, can limit social development by isolating children from those who hold different beliefs:
Social Isolation: Children who are raised in rigid fundamentalist environments may be discouraged from forming relationships with people outside their group. This can lead to social isolation and difficulties in developing friendships, partnerships, or working relationships with people who hold different perspectives. Lack of Conflict Resolution Skills: If children are taught that dissent is wrong, they may struggle to navigate conflicts in healthy ways. This can lead to either avoidance of conflict altogether or the use of authoritarian tactics (such as coercion or aggression) to resolve disagreements.
Interference with Identity Formation Indoctrination can interfere with the healthy development of a child’s sense of self, making it difficult for them to explore their personal beliefs, values, and goals:
Stunted Personal Exploration: Fundamentalism often discourages personal exploration and self-discovery, as it imposes a pre-defined set of values and beliefs. This can prevent children from developing a strong, autonomous identity and make them more prone to feelings of confusion or insecurity later in life. Cognitive Dissonance: When children grow older and encounter ideas that conflict with their indoctrinated beliefs, they may experience cognitive dissonance—a mental discomfort caused by holding contradictory beliefs. If their foundational beliefs are too rigid, this dissonance can lead to internal conflict, anxiety, or even trauma.
Development of Authoritarian Personality Traits Indoctrination in fundamentalist settings often promotes absolute obedience to authority figures, whether religious leaders, parents, or other symbols of power. This can contribute to the development of authoritarian personality traits:
Rigid Thinking and Intolerance for Ambiguity: Children who grow up in environments where questioning authority is discouraged are more likely to adopt rigid, black-and-white thinking. They may become intolerant of ambiguity or complexity, seeing the world in terms of simple moral dichotomies (good vs. evil, believer vs. non-believer). Submission to Authority: Repeated conditioning to obey authority figures without question can also make children more vulnerable to manipulation and control by charismatic leaders or authoritarian figures in adulthood.
Reduction of Exposure to Diverse Ideas Indoctrination often isolates children from ideas and perspectives that contradict the doctrine being taught. This lack of exposure to diverse viewpoints can stunt intellectual and psychological growth:
Decreased Gray Matter Growth: Studies have shown that people who are more open to novel experiences tend to have more developed gray matter, which is associated with cognitive function and processing power. When children are shielded from diverse ideas, their ability to process complex information and appreciate nuance may be diminished. Echo Chamber Effect: When only one perspective is presented, children may internalize an "echo chamber" mentality, where they are unable to recognize or tolerate dissenting opinions. This can foster cognitive biases, such as confirmation bias, where they only seek information that reinforces pre-existing beliefs.
Overactivation of Reward Systems for Conformity Many indoctrination systems use rewards for conformity and obedience, whether it's praise from religious authorities, the promise of an afterlife, or social inclusion. This can lead to overreliance on extrinsic motivation, affecting the brain’s reward pathways:
Dopaminergic Reward Systems: The brain’s reward system, which involves dopamine, can become tied to compliance rather than curiosity, creativity, or independent thought. When children learn that rewards come from conforming to strict norms, they may develop a dependency on external validation rather than pursuing intrinsic goals based on curiosity or self-motivation. Decreased Autonomy: This conditioning of the reward system can create adults who struggle to make independent choices, always seeking approval from authority figures or adhering rigidly to predefined rules.
Stunted Emotional Development Indoctrination often involves strict emotional control, particularly by limiting expressions of doubt, anger, or rebellion. This can inhibit the development of emotional regulation and empathy:
Limited Emotional Range: By discouraging children from expressing their true feelings, fundamentalist systems can prevent them from developing emotional intelligence—the ability to understand and regulate their emotions and the emotions of others. Suppression of Empathy: In cases where indoctrination teaches exclusionary or "us versus them" mentalities (e.g., labeling outsiders or non-believers as evil), it can blunt the development of empathy and compassion toward others, reinforcing rigid social divisions.
Reinforcement of Fear-Based Responses Fundamentalist indoctrination often employs fear, guilt, or the threat of punishment to enforce obedience and conformity. This can lead to the hyperactivation of the amygdala, the brain’s fear center, and result in a heightened sensitivity to perceived threats:
Chronic Stress and Fear: Fear-based teachings can result in long-term changes in the brain. Children exposed to constant fear of hell, punishment, or other threats may develop an overactive stress response. This can lead to chronic anxiety and stress disorders later in life. Fight-or-Flight Response: Frequent activation of the amygdala can cause the brain to become overly focused on immediate threats, narrowing the ability to engage in abstract thinking, creative problem-solving, or long-term planning.
Impaired Critical Thinking and Cognitive Flexibility Indoctrination often involves presenting a rigid, unquestionable belief system, which can lead to the suppression of critical thinking skills. From a young age, children's brains are highly plastic, meaning they are adaptable and shaped by their environment. However, when they are exposed to rigid, dogmatic thinking:
Prefrontal Cortex Development: This part of the brain is responsible for higher-order functions such as reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. Indoctrination can impede the development of the prefrontal cortex by discouraging questioning and critical analysis, leading to reduced cognitive flexibility. Neuroplasticity: The brain's ability to adapt and change based on new information may be hindered. When children are taught to accept beliefs without questioning, they are less likely to engage with diverse perspectives or revise their opinions in light of new evidence.
Good opportunity for psychologists to conduct research on this cohort: If indoctrinated children begin to explore universalism or evolutionary science, they may feel guilt or shame for questioning the religious teachings they grew up with. This emotional distress is exacerbated by the fear of betraying their faith or family values. Such internal conflicts can lead to long-term psychological issues, including depression, anxiety, or identity crises, especially if they are torn between adhering to their upbringing and embracing new evidence-based ideas.
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The deep-seated dogma, resistance to critical thinking, and social isolation can stifle their intellectual and emotional growth, making it harder for them to engage with the broader, more inclusive, and scientifically grounded understanding of the world. Overcoming these barriers requires a supportive environment that encourages open-mindedness, curiosity, and intellectual humility.