October 8, 2021
Have you been indoctrinated? The answer is “Yes, you have.” There’s no doubt about it. The real question is this: What is the result?
Have You Been Indoctrinated?
You absolutely have been indoctrinated. Before you even tell me your story, I’m sure you have.
Here’s how I know:
- You drive a car. On the correct side of the road.
- You use a phone on a regular basis.
- You do your work while awake, and sleep when you’re off duty.
- You are able to read.
- You use cash, checks, and debit/credit cards for commerce.
You were taught the proper way to perform each of these tasks, and the result was that you successfully were able to do them independently. Exactly as you were taught.
Surprised? Maybe you didn’t think of this as indoctrination. But of course it is. Someone taught you the right way to do these things.
You were shown, step by step, exactly how to play the game. There is a system, a way to make it all work, and you have to comply.
You don’t get to “do it your own way” or skip the instructions.
You were taught, and you learned. Did you see it as indoctrination?
Maybe you think the word is too strong.
Which word do you favor?
- Teach
- Instruct
- Indoctrinate
- Inculcate
All of these are ways to deliver knowledge — how to operate equipment, how to achieve a certain end result, etc..
Somehow, though, something happened. Systems and methods got labeled as oppressive. Which doesn’t make any sense.
And that’s the heart of today’s topic.
I’m about to spill that.
But first…
My Secret Obsession
I’ll tell you a little secret about me: I watch a lot of reruns of those old Mayday Air Disaster shows.
OK. More than a lot. I’m hooked.
The unfolding of each story is fascinating, from the first hint of trouble to the final closure of the investigation.
The more you watch, the more you appreciate the painstaking procedures that airline pilots honor so they can perform their number one task: To get their passengers to the destination safely.
I love systems and procedures and proven methods of success.
And I get my feathers ruffled when a new recruit wants to rewrite the system before they even learn it.
What’s the point?
I’ll say it loud and clear:
There’s a very perplexing ideology being pushed that says you should question everything, and you shouldn’t have to follow rules.
I think it’s the new version of “There is no absolute truth.”
(If you hear a sad-sounding off-key chorus of voices singing “I Did It My Way” about now, it’s all the folks who wrecked their cars driving on the wrong side of the road. The people who dialed phone numbers backward and refused to properly insert their debit card, because they don’t like being told how to do something.)
If you’ve been around a while, you know me as a gentle soul. Usually I try to be kind and gracious.
But I’m completely frustrated and I’m just gonna say something really ugly: The folks at the Dumb Idea Factory must be working overtime.
(If you’d like to read the previous topic on this subject, you can check it out here: Is Indoctrination Good or Bad? )
Look, I’m telling you this as a friend. I’m not trying to scare you. I’m trying to give you the power to recognize and control indoctrination. So you don’t have to be scared.
The reason you need to understand is this: A lot of people have carved the word “indoctrination” into a big scary rusty knife. They are running around like wild animals waving it in the air, screaming that any system they don’t like is “indoctrination,” the rusty knife that will infect your brain and hypnotize you into wrongness.
Well, I call “boo.”
It’s October, the month of scary dressed-up imposters jumping out of the shadows.
And I’m not having it.
One Bad Example of “Boo Indoctrination”
Here’s a story about one dressed-up person who jumped out of the shadows:
There is a Virginia schoolteacher who wanted to warn the world that orderly behavior of students in schools is rooted in white supremacy. He seems confident he’s right.
I guess he hasn’t learned much about instruction, even though he’s a teacher.
Has he ever paid attention to martial arts training, or military training, etc.? I haven’t taken karate, and I have not served my country in the military.
But I know some things: Usually training involves listening to instruction, practicing a skill, and achieving competency.
And a huge amount of order and respect.
Evidently requiring children to be seated or have manners seems cruel to this young man, and specifically it is a cruelty invented and perpetuated by white people. But wait. This guy is white. 
Hmmm. I thought…
Here. Let me just link to the article, and you can read for yourself. (Helpful note: Don’t skip the comments.) You can go now and come right back, or look after you finish reading here.
You know what? I actually feel bad for this guy. No one who commented agrees with him, but he really believes what he is saying.
Since babies aren’t born saying things like “white supremacy” we can be pretty sure that he was indoctrinated into a thought pattern that gave him this kind of logic.
This whole ideology is fascinating: That people actually believe the color of your skin determines a hatred that is unchangeably part of your “culture.”
If that’s true, this guy is not capable of recognizing white supremacy/privilege. Because he was born that way (white). The way this theory reads, only non-white people can truly see white privilege. Since no white person can “break out” of white culture, where does this guy fit in?
Trying to follow the logic is maddening.
You know what? If ever someone were trying to prevent unity between white folks and black folks, this would go a long way.
If you could get people to believe it.
Wait. They are believing it.
Busting the “Boo Indoctrination of Racism”
I’m 62 years old, and I’m betting somewhere right this minute there is a 12-year-old being told that I lived on a plantation and owned slaves just a short time ago.
No, my young friend, you have been misinformed. My generation experienced integration of schools with joy. This occurred in our small community when I was in elementary school. The children who came from the Rosenwald school probably had more fears than we knew, but we were all blissfully unaware of adult conflicts and simply made friends.
We studied side by side, together instead of separately.
Their teachers entered classrooms beside our teachers, and soon they were all ours.
Together we spent the 1960’s and 1970’s watching our society work through the slow process of deleting the practices of segregation.
We had real life. Together. We struggled with big issues. And we didn’t hate. We shared hot slides at recess, spelling bees, and Motown.
Teen pregnancies, the hallmark of the 1970’s, were numerous among both blacks and whites. Some resulted in joyful births. Others had a different outcome. Roe v Wade was 1973.
My friend Linda from all those years was among the youngest to give birth. When we all had a swim day at the lake, she honored me by asking me to watch her baby so she could go with the others on a boat ride. We were 13.
My friend, Renita went on to become a pastor. Her influence was powerful; her witness for the Lord was marked by ever-growing knowledge and wisdom. She displayed faith, and devotion to the Church and to people. She earned the respect of other leaders. An unexpected diagnosis of cancer preceded her tragic death by only a matter of weeks. She has been gone now for 10 years.
My friend Tammy lost her mother in a car accident when we were in the 5th grade. As my friend’s broken body healed over a number of months, our entire group struggled to cope with the loss.
Mrs. Lemon taught us to use a serrated knife to cut breads and cakes in home economics. Mr. Nettles taught us drafting. And Mr. Nettles’ wife taught us algebra. Successfully. (Only those who knew us realize what a miracle that was. )
As adults, my old friend Rose and I each attended a school concert for our daughters and had a surprising reunion. We discovered our daughters had been friends throughout school, just like we had.
These were my friends.
These friends and I grew up together. Many graduated from high school. Some went to college, others had families, or moved far away, or had jobs. Real people.
What color were my friends?
Not telling you. Because they were the color of people.
But I’ll tell you this:
Don’t rewrite our story.
We lived it, and it was good.
Some of the important truths settled into place long after the events.
Like the national unrest.
Like finding out about Rosenwald schools. It was just a word, until a couple of years ago.
Julius Rosenwald was a hero. He was not born hating, and he didn’t grow to hate. If you don’t know about him, I hope you take a minute to read the short article.
My parents participated in a determined effort to secure bus transportation for our new friends who came from the Rosenwald School, which closed. My parents also opened a clothes closet in a building on the school campus to supply clothing and shoes to any child who was lacking. It operated like a store, but with no money. No charges for the merchandise, and no salary for the volunteers.
Don’t rewrite our story.
I’m fine if you tell yours. But don’t erase mine.
The Truth About Racism
Since the beginning of time, people have struggled to see differences accurately. Some seek to resolve differences, some seek to obliterate people unlike them.
I’m not saying racism is a myth.
Racism is an awful truth. In both directions.
We have a natural tendency to find comfort in the familiar, and uneasiness in the unfamiliar.
But instead of our society moving toward increasing the comfort, we sadly move in the direction of increasing the uneasiness. And there’s a reason for that.
Love and strife don’t make great companions. People usually choose one or the other.
Choosing love often looks like service.
And choosing strife usually looks like a scramble to the top of Pain Mountain.
Humans historically struggle for power using whatever method seems to work. Finance, Rules, Violence, Accusations, Secret Schemes. The list is endless.
In a struggle for power, corruption reigns. Leaders are guided solely by the quest, not by the principles.
Fingers are pointed and voices rise to insist we are enemies. Blacks and whites, Christians and non-Christians, democrats and republicans, men and women, etc.. ( I suspect every person who reads this can easily supply the next example. They are endless, aren’t they?)
Interestingly in our politicized culture, the real issues are often ignored as a shift takes place. The methods become the focus of the strife. Each side will attempt to discredit the methods of the other side, affirming only their own habits and practices as justified.
This frenzied finger-pointing avoids self-examination and insists on blaming others.
The heart of an issue is sidelined as the spotlight diverts our attention to protests, accusations, and characters.
People are encouraged to paint groups with a broad brush. There is no room for individual thought.
Proclamations are crafted. The focus is sharpened, and repeatedly plunged into the thoughts of young people.
And of course, seeds of hatred are sown in the hearts of men. People become convinced that hatred and contempt are justified. That division is necessary. That we must be protected from “the others.”
And then…
The Thing That Always Surprises:
Peacemakers are quickly shunned, and silenced when possible. Canceled.
Why?
Because there’s money and power in the strife.
A unified country serving God would be a true world power, but that power wouldn’t belong to men.
Only with strife can men hold on to the power.
Have you been “stirred up” by racial strife?
Guess what? You can’t stir me up. Because I’ve been indoctrinated into love for all people. My parents taught kindness and deep concern, not hatred. They taught me to recognize cultural differences without hate.
They taught me that people were not to be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. They taught me that Christ came that no one should perish.
Someone taught me love first, before hatred was introduced.
I was indoctrinated, and I am forever grateful. And I know plenty of others who were also indoctrinated into love.
But to our power-hungry world, Gospel love has no place in the fast-paced agenda of strife and unrest.
There is a race to get the stories told, to recruit the thinkers, regardless of truth.
Whoever Tells First Has The Advantage
Look, we all know this. Whoever tells the story first captures the “blank space” for his cause. The opposing view has to work to correct or even discredit the “first” story.
You know it’s true.
- Brother: “Mom, she hit my face.”
Before anything gets settled, one thing has happened for sure: Mom has a picture of Sister hitting Brother’s face.
(“Your honor, the prosecution rests.”)
- Mom: “Sister, did you hit his face?”
- Sister: “Yes, because he called me a turtle.”
The point: whoever captures that blank space has the advantage.
That picture can be corrected. But maybe the opposing view doesn’t have the opportunity to make that correction.
You know what happens? That first story usually finds its place. And stays there.
The lesson? Tell your story first. Claim the blank space.
As soon as those precious little heads are born, we should be telling our story. His story. Occupy the space first, claim it for truth.
Make Sure You Have Been Indoctrinated
As humans, as believers, as Americans, as parents, we need to carefully select our indoctrination.
We need to tell our story first.
That’s right, we need truth anchored deep in our thinking. We need that compass in place before the other ideas come. And when they do…
- We need to fact check.
- We need to recognize the signs of false teaching and mistaken ideologies.
We need to be thought leaders for truth, for justice, for mercy, and for the Gospel.
Let me give you one easy example. One of my favorite parenting books is Don’t Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Hubbard. I could say so much about this book. Biblical parenting is certainly the topic.
But the way she explains it! In the ordinary interactions and corrections of a regular mom she teaches Scriptural principles that equip children to utilize God’s word to direct their conduct.
And she teaches you and me how to do that!
This is a very direct example of the kind of indoctrination that we need to be incorporating into our lives — for ourselves and for our children. The constant influx of Scripture into our hearts defends us against incorrect indoctrination.
That’s right — we don’t have to fear the dreaded “rusty knife” of indoctrination. We are happily indoctrinated into truth, equipped for every good work.
And when the enemy shows up with false teaching, we can “call boo” and stand firm.
Indoctrination itself isn’t the problem. It’s the substance of the indoctrination that’s the threat.
In other words, they’re holding the wrong knife. They’re fighting the wrong battle. With all their heart they are trying to indoctrinate you into believing indoctrination is wrong.
What’s the real weapon?
Not the “declaration.”
It’s the information, the truth, the capture.
That’s right. I said it. The capture.
You feel it: The pressure to let someone capture you. They speak daily, with propaganda, pleading, and pressure. And the really powerful one: persuasion.
Both sides offer proof. And they tell “their truth” while they encourage you to find “your truth.”
You’re constantly slipping on the ice, sliding toward one side or the other. And you see others doing the same.
- Black people have the answer to unity. Or white people do.
- Marriage is between a man and a woman. Or it’s not.
- Vaccines are necessary. Or vaccines are unsafe.
- Vaccines work. Or they don’t.
- Only the government should own guns. Or citizens should also own guns.
- Borders should be completely secure. Or completely open.
- Democrats are usually right. Or republicans usually are.
Who do you listen to?
I said it earlier, and I want to say it again: You listen to truth. Real truth.
And you start with the most true thing. You get your mindset correct, your view of the world, and then you have a better understanding of what is true and how to recognize false information.
You learn that Jesus came to give life in abundance. While Satan’s goals are to steal, kill, and destroy.
Satan is the father of lies. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
If those characteristics are the truth we have indoctrinated ourselves with, then we will be better able to recognize the source of what we encounter.
So, yes, some of the signals can be exposed —
If you have knowledge of the nature of the opposing forces of good and evil.
Steal, kill, destroy.
Acquire, obliterate, crush.
Seeing the truth is sometimes frightening, sometimes painful.
Finding out you were captured by a lie can be devastating. And finding your way out is emotional heavy labor.
How do we see the lies before the capture?
Looking closely with a Biblical view can expose schemes that might otherwise hide in the shadows.
Remember: We need truth anchored deep in our thinking. We need that compass in place before the other ideas come.
So now we are back to the initial question,
Have You Been Indoctrinated?
It’s important.
The answer is “yes” because you absolutely have.
The real question is deeper.
Have you been indoctrinated correctly?
Who told you the story first? And was it the truth?
When someone encourages you to live “your truth,” is it the truth?
If not, aren’t we just playing?
I’m not playing. And I’m not going to be scared when someone jumps out of the shadows with a big dumb lie.
I’m looking at truth, listening to those who teach truth, and growing in knowledge. I have a long way to go, and a lot of smart people who want to help me.
That’s why I’m asking you: Have you been indoctrinated correctly? It’s so important.
There’s a lot to consider when you discuss something as important as your worldview. But the first thing has to be truth. The truth. And the way. And the life.
Deuteronomy 6:5-9
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Be prepared.
Be certain you have been indoctrinated into truth. And then be prepared to defend it. More importantly, to stand on it.
Otherwise, we’re just playing.
More To Know; Have You Been Indoctrinated?
If you didn’t read the previous article on Indoctrination (Good? or Bad?) then I want you to! It will give you a better picture of what’s being said here.
Sometimes getting started with the most basic, the most important thing, is a big step. If you are interested in that, The Most Important Announcement may be a help to you.
Don’t skip “The Looming Danger of Indoctrination” which is also a part of the series.
“The End Of The Matter” is the final post in the series.
And check out these excellent books to help you navigate the murky waters of our ever-changing culture…
Michael Youssef, in Hope for This Present Crisis:
“The message of the kingdom of God won’t win any popularity contests. But it is the truth, and we need the courage to defend God’s truth boldly and without compromise. We must stop chasing after the approval of this fallen world. Jesus never compromised the truth to win people over.”
Voddie Baucham in Fault Lines:
“I wrote this book because I love God more than life, the truth more than others’ opinion of me, and the Bride of Christ more than my platform. My heart is broken as I watch movements and ideologies against which I have fought and warned for decades become entrenched as the highest and most respected levels of evangelicalism. I want this book to be a clarion call.”
Ginger Hubbard, author of Don’t Make Me Count To Three: Through personal experience and the practical application of Scripture, Ginger Hubbard encourages and equips moms to reach past the outward behavior of their children and dive deeply into the issues of the heart.
Owen Strachan, author of Christianity and Wokeness:
Editorial review: As the ideology of wokeness spreads like gangrene throughout many churches, we need men who will stand and speak the truth in a way that is able to win minds and hearts. Owen Strachan delivers on this great need in his latest book. With the mind of a scholar, Owen defines wokeness with great care and addresses the serious nature of its worldly ideology.
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