Religion as brainwashing?

Absolutely. I was a fundamentalist Christian, pentecostal in fact, for nearly twenty years. If you know anything about pentecostals, they are among the most hard-core of the fundamentalist bunch. As I was growing up, I was told that the Bible was the inerrant, infallible, unquestionable word of God. I was told that demons were just waiting for doubt to creep in so that Satan could corrupt my soul. I was told that if I died a doubter, I would burn in extreme agony in the unquenchable flames of Hell for all eternity. In this way, I was made to be so fearful to ever even think about questioning my beliefs, that I never considered doing so. If that is not brainwashing, I don't know what is. As I got older, I began having some serious doubts. I finally got the courage to examine my beliefs in an unbiased light, and when I did, they fell like a house of cards.

The situation I experienced growing up is the same thing that children and others experience in the Middle East I'm sure. However, in their situation, they could be severely beaten or even killed for their apostacy. This is why we must do everything we can to combat irrational belief systems and usher in an age where reason is the new creed.

When you are referring to adults, brainwashing is the correct term. With children, the right word actually IS "train". A child cannot think independently. To a child, "god" is no more abstract than "president". What the grown-ups tell you in school or church must be true after all.

By the time a young person's mind is capable of challenging this type of teaching, the belief may be too strong to overcome.

I agree with you about reason, David.

This is a great question gandalfthegrey.

Thank you.

Governments and religions both can be used to brainwash,but it's like a two edge sword.On one side they can both be used for good and on the other ,they can both be used for evil.

It's a loaded question !

A gun or any weapon can be used to defend as well as kill !

Education can be used for good or evil.

The answer.is it can! But that's a qualified answer.

It's possible and it has happened.

What ever you choose to believe is what you act on.

For example what does the phrase "The meek shall inherit the Earth" mean to you?

what you think it means may be the opposite of what someone else thinks it means.

It depends on the context the in which the word is used.

If ,by meek you mean "afraid to do something that should be or should have been done" then that is a different context than someone who refrains from doing something because he knows what he could do if he wanted to but can control his temper.

"Religion is the opiate of the masses." Karl Marx

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple." Oscar Wilde

It definitely is and it's not really an opinion, but the truth. Young children' s minds are extremely influenced by what their elders say. Everyone thinks that their religion is better then all the others, but the truth is they are all bad in there own ways. I have many of opinions on the topic of religion, and the burden it has been on mankind since the beginning. Check out my new hub.

Mankind's Historical Burden

Among hindus and muslims there are many brainwashing done for creating criminals for strengthening parties and destroying enemies

No.

Parents and other teachers are NOT terrorists.

Parents are SUPPOSED to TEACH their children to do things like learn to read, learn to THINK, to follow a code of morality (ethics) and to brush their teeth; and that's definitely NOT the same as coercing them into strapping bombs on their bodies and blowing themselves and others to pieces.