The Perpetuation of Indoctrination

From birth we are led to believe lies; while simultaneously being taught that lying is bad. We are sold a myth from our very first religious holiday; whether it be Christmas or Easter. We are taught that some person, or in the Easter Bunny’s case; some animal, brings us gifts in the night. We are indoctrinated to believe in an utter fallacy; in fact our parents insist upon the credulity of their claims.

Then it happens; the lie blows up in their faces. The truth is inevitably discovered. Maybe digging through a parent’s dresser to discover baby teeth, or through a closet to find the gifts Santa delivers a few days later. Without regard to how the truth is found; the effect is the same. The individuals world view capsizes quicker than the Titanic. At age nine few things matter beyond recess, and the myths we are led to believe.

So what effect does this have long-term? Though I am unable to answer that query with any surety; I do have a few postulations. Maybe a belief in the imaginary is what allows us to elect political figures and then remain apathetic when all their promises fall through. Maybe a belief in the imaginary is what allows people to remain heartless through a divorce. Maybe these beliefs allow us to believe in that which we know is too good to be true. Maybe these beliefs are what allow our geriatric Wal-Mart greeters to work at 70 when they were told they could retire at 65. Maybe these myths make it easier for us to obtain student loans to, “Be whatever we want to be when we grow up.” Maybe these myths are the only thing allowing our nation to perpetuate, “The American Dream.”

So do these myths have a lighter side? Is it in our child’s best interest to indoctrinate consumerism every Christmas Holiday; or to lie to them in the first place? The moment the truth is known an extreme case of cognitive dissonance is developed. The child becomes lost. Taught not to lie, but lied to all along. Lied to by the only people the child was taught to trust. Lied to by those nearest and dearest. I say there isn’t a lighter side. To perpetuate the myth of Santa Claus is no different than lying to your spouse about an affair; in the end the damage is undoubtedly the same.

It is my opinion that the perpetuation of these myths is harmful to our species. We can not expect our children to be honest when we are not being honest with them. We can not expect our children to be honest with themselves when we are not honest with ourselves. We can not teach our children that lying is acceptable on occasion. There is no grey area between truth and fiction, and regretfully the indoctrination our youth receives teaches them just that; lying is acceptable in certain situations.

Questions, concerns, comments; feel free to reply.

I suppose being lied to from the start would only fuel resentment towards being lied to and the distrust of any oncoming information so we look at it critically but i do believe there are better ways to help a child with there imagination without being lied to for it only crushes the spirit of man to pour his heart into a lie and see it implode and maybe after awhile of getting hit against the side of the head we distance ourselves from certain messages becuase it could very well turn out false, a lie, a shamble and we would rather protect ourselves then seek the truth. we all know how our childhood forms our later years we want to go back to when things weren't so complicated and chaotic and evil but we cant do that now too much is at stake

reply to post by DivineTeacher


You have a very valid point. However, should History be used as any sort of rule or guide, Humankind is more apt to accept and believe that all clouds have a silver lining all the while knowing the statement is an utter fallacy, than they are to choose to consciously avoid clouds all together.

reply to post by Namaste


Well history in our current form as we all know is made by the victors and would only help serve the indoctrination process of withholding information for there betterment but at the same time it such a huge context we as humans pull from to point to in our daily lives so we would look like fools if we didn't drink the kool-aid this is the catch 22 This seems to point to homeschooling but under what lines is homeschooling actually effective if the material you bring home are the same books the public school children are reading you would have to have an awakened parent to sort through the crap to get to the real ideals

reply to post by DivineTeacher


You miss my point. My reference to History wasn't a reference to World History per se. It was more of a reference to the behaviour of those around us. I see people everyday who swallow lies like pills; even knowing full well just what they are swallowing. We elect Politicians knowing full well that they probably won't stand behind their promises. We continue to pay into a Social Security System that we know won't pay us back. The list goes on and on, ad infinitum ad nauseum.

reply to post by Namaste


Ah im sorry about misreading your intention so lets try this again. Yeah we could use the behaviour of people as late like the whole picking the lesser of two evils basicaly knowing your going to get shunted either way but still swallowing it with a brick we could show our children how this has not benefitted anyone except the ones who wish us harm so it would do us well to honest up and tell our children we have failed and to learn from our mistakes before its too late