Brainwashed Religious Followers Create More Followers
It's tempting to describe the phenomenon as "the blind leading the blind," because that might sound harsh. After all, few people want to view themselves as brainwashed or part of a cult.
However, there's no other way to accurately describe this behavior. Religious followers often accept information that may be untrue or lack rational validation, yet continue to blindly follow their leaders. This behavior isn't limited to religion; it applies to those who blindly follow ideologies in politics, health, parenting, education, and finance.
Brainwashing stems from accepting information without questioning it. If your grandparents believed in God, and your parents believe in God, there's a good chance you will too. But which God? Jehovah is the God of the Jews, Allah is the God of the Muslims, Jesus is the God of the Christians, and Brahma is one of the gods of the Hindus.
The choice is often made for you based on your place of birth and the beliefs of your parents. If your parents are Muslim and you were born in the United States, you're likely to be a Muslim until you begin to question the information you've been taught.
This is a key distinction between thinkers and followers. Thinkers question, analyze, and seek truth. Followers accept. At some point in a religious follower's life, the transition to becoming a thinker may involve a quest for truth, or at least the best version of it.
This is what happened to me. I was raised Christian, but the promised "better life" always seemed just out of reach. "Pray and believe in Jesus, and everything will work out," I was told. But it rarely did. Tired of waiting and listening to false promises, I embarked on a quest to discover if Christianity could actually deliver on its promises.
After two decades of searching, I took an educated stance against organized religion. This isn't the norm. I gathered extensive information and made a rational assessment based on tangible evidence. I did what many religious followers avoid: I scrutinized the hard evidence.
The results were life-changing. The experience was akin to a religious follower being "saved," but my salvation came from embracing rational thought. Breaking away from unrealistic beliefs opened my eyes in ways I never imagined.
Brainwashed individuals, however, don't question. They follow the leader, accepting information without scrutiny. This creates the ideal follower for governments and the wealthy. These are the worker bees of society, many of whom can be convinced to fight for an illusion of freedom with minimal propaganda.
This "follow the leader" mentality perpetuates itself across generations. These individuals can be convinced to believe almost anything through the media and charismatic figures.
The only way to break this cycle of accepting unfounded information is to start questioning it.
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