Religion brainwashes people from childhood.
The Devotional Answer
The devotional answer to this critique is found in the fundamental difference between spiritual formation and forced control. All parents—religious or not—teach their children their core values (morality, politics, ethics, or lack thereof). A Christian parent’s command is to instruct a child in God’s truth, giving them a framework for life.
Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) says: "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."
However, the Christian faith, at its core, is not inherited; it must be a personal, free-will decision to surrender to Christ as an adult (or at the age of accountability). True faith must survive questions (Question 39) and personal conviction. The charge of "brainwashing" is often true of destructive cults (Question 44), but it fails to recognize the necessary component of free choice and repentance required for authentic Christian discipleship.
The Simple Answer
The claim confuses education and guidance with coercive brainwashing.
Brainwashing (Indoctrination): Involves using manipulative techniques to strip away critical thinking, demand unquestioning obedience, isolate the person, and prevent access to outside information.
Christian Spiritual Teaching (Formation): Involves sharing a comprehensive worldview, encouraging questions, presenting historical evidence (e.g., the resurrection), and always aiming toward a point where the individual makes a freely chosen commitment to Christ.
If the "brainwashing" were successful, every child raised in a Christian home would remain a Christian, which is historically and empirically false. Faith requires a personal response.
The Deeper Dive
The integrity of Christian practice demands that faith be freely chosen, not compelled.
1. The Necessity of Choice and Repentance
The New Testament consistently stresses that the Christian life begins with repentance and belief—acts that require conscious awareness and free moral agency.
Jesus’ first words were: "The time has come... The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!" — Mark 1:15 (NIV)
No parent can repent for their child. The reality that many children raised in the Church leave, question, or later return as adults proves that the ultimate choice—the free will of the individual—is always the decisive factor.
2. The Nature of True Conversion
If a child simply inherits the rituals without experiencing genuine, personal conversion (a heart change by the Holy Spirit), the "religion" they practice is a form of works-based legalism (Question 21) or cultural tradition, which the Bible itself critiques. True Christian faith requires a heart that has been made new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
3. Comparing Worldviews
All systems of thought—secular humanism, atheism, materialism—are also "taught" from childhood. A secular parent teaches their child that there is no God, that the world is accidental, and that morality is relative.
This is also the transmission of a worldview. The difference lies in the content and the method: A true Christian community encourages its members to test all things against the Word of God, promoting discernment rather than blind faith.
God’s Assurance
God assures you that He desires your love to be a free gift, and He has given you the ability to test and discern truth.
"Test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." — 1 John 4:1 (NIV)
You are assured that your faith is not rooted in fragile programming, but in a God who gives you the wisdom and freedom to choose Him personally.
Your Takeaway Thought
Acknowledge that unhealthy religious environments or cults can engage in brainwashing techniques. However, do not confuse that coercion with the spiritual work of a loving parent teaching a child to pray or read the Bible.
Your faith is now your own: take ownership of it, test it with open inquiry (Question 39), and confirm that your belief in Jesus Christ is a freely chosen act of the will.
