Indoctrination is one of those things that anti-theists such as myself rail against quite often. Most of us take serious issue with the forceful impression of ideologies upon young fresh minds. We see theists of all religions who drag their kids along to their place of worship and push their doctrine into their hands. The common argument of the theist is that, these are their children and they’ll do what they see fit to do with or to them…

After all, what could it really hurt?

These Aren’t Just YOUR Children

It seems all too often that many parents do not think about the fact that raising a child is not like taking care of a pet. Your children are not your property. They are HUMAN BEINGS who will eventually, barring any tragedies, grow into adults who must interact with their peers, their elders, and other young impressionable human beings. As parents, we tend to be the most influential people in the lives of our children. If we’re lucky, we can be their hero and the people they aspire to be, because we’ve set an example that is worth following. We can also be the monsters in their nightmares. It all depends on who WE choose to be and the outcome is mostly entirely up to us.

Now, I say the outcome is mostly up to us because there are other factors at play. The sad truth is that you can be the most wonderful and loving parent in the world, but some people are born with mental disorders such as sociopathic or psychotic tendencies that are beyond either our, or their control…and sometimes even beyond what can be regulated through medication. Sometimes the brain just doesn’t fire “right” and make the connections necessary to form a mental framework for what we call morality and conscience.

This is why indoctrination can be one of the most damaging things a parent can do to a child. While your intentions may be purely good, many of these mental disorders may not truly manifest themselves until much later in life. That doctrine you offer them as a “moral framework” may in fact turn out to be a handbook for malice and ill-will. You have to remember…it’s all open to interpretation, and if it weren’t there wouldn’t be over 31,000 denominations of Christians, several differing sects of Judaism and Islam, and even many differing sects of Hinduism and Buddhism.

The Most Well-known Monster You Might Not Know

So at this point, there are undoubtedly at least a few theists reading this and scoffing. There are probably some who are already angry and think I’m just talking out of my ass. But in proper atheist fashion…I came prepared with evidence for my case.

Most people reading this are likely familiar with some fairly popular horror-thriller titles including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Silence of the Lambs, and the Hitchcock classic Psycho, but many of you may be surprised to learn that the lead villains of those films all took a great deal of their inspiration from one real life psychopath. The psychopath in question is a man named Edward Theodore Gein. His crimes include; desecration of corpses stolen from graves, human taxidermy, necrophilia, and at least two known murders. Gein collected body parts as trophies and even created a human skin-suit which he admitted to wearing in private in order to emulate becoming a woman.

Making a Monster

Gein was raised with his brother Henry, primarily by his mother Augusta who was a puritanical Christian, while his father indulged in alcoholism and general uselessness. Augusta was a very strict and verbally abusive woman who used her religious convictions to instill in her sons the idea that the entire outside world was pure sin and evil. She was very specific in citing sex as being a horrible thing and that all women, except her of course, where whores who just wanted to defile her boys and turn them into sinners. This may have greatly contributed to the unhealthy obsession and connection Edward had with his mother, which even his brother Henry, found to be disturbing and spoke out to his mother against.

In 1940, Edward's father died. 4 years later, as Edward and Henry were out fighting an out of control brush fire, Henry also died under very questionable circumstances. Henry was “found” by Edward after he contacted police saying they had gotten separated fighting the fire. His body was in an area untouched by fire and had bruises about his head, but police dismissed this, thinking that Edward was incapable of such a crime. Henry’s cause of death was officially listed as asphyxiation. Just one year later, their mother Augusta died after a series of strokes, taking away the only friend and love that Edward had ever known. Edward would quickly descend into full blown madness and over the next few years would commit some of the most shocking crimes to be seen in the twentieth century.

No Excuses

Edward Gein was a psychotic murderer, and regardless of what led him down that path, his crimes are inexcusable. This blog is not an attempt to justify or glorify these actions IN ANY WAY. It is merely an account of the actions of a man who was so warped by his mother’s oppressive indoctrination and his own mental instability that he committed acts that many can only fathom from what they’ve seen in movies inspired by his madness. I am not attempting to paint a “pitiful” picture of this murderer. Although there were some very serious factors behind what drove him to do these things, the crimes can’t be “forgiven” on that basis.

What this blog presents is the most extreme of cases where indoctrination played a significant part in ruining a human being. What it presents is the strongest possible case against indoctrination. When people say, “what can it hurt to force my religion on my children?”, I point them to this example. THIS is the harm that CAN come from indoctrination. This is the extreme. It is bloody and violent and the inspiration for the phantoms from film which can haunt the dreams of even grown adults. And while you may argue that it wasn’t entirely the fault of indoctrination, there can be NO ARGUMENT that religious indoctrination played no part in these horrific crimes.

The Moral of the Story

The moral of the story here is simple…our children listen to us. The lessons we offer sink deep into them, even if it's not always apparent. When you press your ideologies on them, you also press your own deep-seated psychosis upon them, and make no mistake, we all have deep-seated psychosis whether we want to admit it or not. We have our own biases and prejudices formed through our own experiences, and what we learned from those who influenced us in our youth. Just as Augusta pressed her view of the world and its “sinful” nature upon her son, thousands of parents also press their ideas onto their children. Ideas of racism, sexism, and even religious superiority and in doing so, they perpetuate the cycle of hatred that tears at the fabric of our humanity.

A Final Thought

Some of you clicked this blog because you recognized the title and likely knew exactly what you were walking into. So I’ll leave you all with the lyrics of the Mudvayne song which is this post's "namesake” and is possibly the best summation of Edward Gein’s life: