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humane idea to object, in those days, resisting Catholic authority could easily get you excommunicated, or worse. Now, several centuries later there is still no effective objection. Indeed, some people fly into a rage at the mere suggestion that the present deference shown parents who want their children indoctrinated is wrong and must end.

The initiation of children begins very early, as an ally of mine wrote to correct an assertion I made in an earlier draft. I had written that indoctrination started at age 6. Here is how she corrected me:

. it begins in the cradle and ends in the grave if you're unlucky enough to be raised in the Catholic tradition. You start hearing about the baby Jesus at your first Xmas and it goes on from there, on a daily basis. Not a day goes by that someone does not say to a child, you better be good or god will punish you. My mother reminded me every day that I could lie to her but god was always watching me and he would know. We all knew that if we died with a sin on our souls we would go straight to hell. And a sin could be as simple as skipping church on a rainy Sunday, or having an impure thought. It was a very scary time even though I was a rebel and only believed half of what I heard. And when I finally chucked it all at the age of 52, I was greatly relieved that I didn't have to worry about going to hell any more.

You say that no six year old is in a position to consent to religious indoctrination? Neither is a ten year old or a twelve year old who has never learned critical thinking or comparative religion. There is no age limit for an indoctrinated child to choose whether or not s/he wants to continue in the religion of his or her forefathers. IMHO.

Now, to graphically make a point about early conditioning, let's go to a video of a little girl valiantly attempting to recite a Psalm for presumably her adoring parent.

http://tinyurl.com/2cyjt7

If you are a Christian you may think this video charming. The child is cute and undeniably precocious. But please temper that impulse and remember you are seeing the child through a cultural lens that sees no danger in childhood indoctrination. An Islamist will most likely see this video quite differently. Yet, Islamists have no problem bribing 10s of thousands of young boys to memorize the Koran! In each case, children are being unwittingly placed in opposing camps and armor plated against ever changing.

Advocates for child rights pose a legitimate objection to the indoctrination of children

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