Johann Hari: "Dear God, stop brainwashing children"

[ciphergoth]

Johann Hari, The Independent, 2009-05-08

Dear God, stop brainwashing children

Why is worship forced on 99 per cent of children without their own consent or even asking what they think?

Let us now put our hands together and pray. O God, we gather here today to ask you to free our schoolchildren from being forced to go through this charade every day. As you know, O Lord, because You see all, British law requires every schoolchild to participate in "an act of collective worship" every 24 hours. Irrespective of what the child thinks or believes, they are shepherded into a hall, silenced, and forced to pray – or pretend to.

If they refuse to bow their heads to You, they are punished. This happened to me, because I protested that there is no evidence whatsoever that You exist, and plenty of proof that shows the texts describing You are filled with falsehoods. When I pointed this out, I was told to stop being "blasphemous" and threatened with detention. "Shut up and pray," a teacher told me on one occasion. Are you proud, O Lord?

[...] I am genuinely surprised that no moderate religious people have, to my knowledge, joined the campaign to stop this compelled prayer. What pleasure or pride can you possibly feel in knowing that children are compelled to worship your God? Why are you silent?

[...]

Are there prominent religious campaigners on this issue in particular or State secularism in general that he's not taking into account? Are they getting articles in the national press, or trying to? Pointers welcome!

Comments

[xquiq.livejournal.com]

My experience at school varied widely (& I went to a Catholic school).

In primary school, religion was very much forced upon us, for example:

Tending to take instructions somewhat literally at age 11, I actually did what was asked and thought about whether or not I wanted to make a lifelong committment to the church via Confirmation. Having done so, I concluded that I did not wish to shared this 'decision' with my teacher & parents. What followed was a series of threats - not about hell - but about getting sent to the non-denominational secondary school where everyone would pick on me because I was a Catholic. Then there was the bribery. Followed by, 'it's not really a choice, it's a formality'. And so, I was Confirmed.

Secondary school was slightly different. Most teachers just asked you to bow your head and pray / reflect as you felt appropriate. Religious assemblies were compulsory until age 16, at which point I stopped attending.

Looking back, the majority was forced upon us and some (such as getting ashes put on our heads & punishment for wiping them off from age 5-15) pretty unpleasant.

Forcing a child into religion can have an enormous negative impact. I realise there's quite a gulf between 'bow your head and mumble' and bible-thumping indoctrination, but nonetheless firmly believe that religious observance has no place in schools.

[xquiq.livejournal.com]

Apologies if I've used that example before incidentally, but when I look back on my religious schooling, it's one of the few examples that still riles me (though not as much as it once did) at age 28.