Since I have been out, I have observed many who indoctrinate
their children without really knowing that that is what they are doing. Many
have their children memorize the Articles of Faith or other scriptures. I
believe this is a form of brainwashing. I don’t think it is done intentionally
but it is what they have been taught a good parent does. Another example of
brainwashing is testimony meeting. I
remember hearing in church about the importance of bearing one’s testimony and
that by bearing it often we would get a stronger testimony. President Boyd K. Packer
stated, “A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it.” Shouldn’t we know
what we believe before we get up and testify of something? Plus they tell you
what a testimony is to consist of. This tactic works with just about anything.
If a person tells themselves something over and over, and if they hear it over
and over again they begin to believe it. There are also those parents that take
their children up and whisper in their ears what to say. These young children
are not old enough to know what they believe and the only reason they repeat
LDS doctrine is because they are taught the same concepts week after week.
Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t teach our children to be good people, but that we should teach them to keep an open mind and to not be afraid to doubt their their beliefs and to double-check things (in other words, to not "doubt their doubts). We should teach them to always seek for knowledge and truth and not to just shut the door because we think the one way is the right way. Everything should be questioned in this world. No one person can ever stand up and say I know this, but we can believe and have faith in something. But even then we should continue to gain knowledge and be open to hearing others’ points of view.
The following link is to a well done video that discusses this topic further.
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