I’m so grateful for this

Posted on November 22, 2009 | 3 Comments

In January, the British Humanist Association started the Atheist Bus Campaign. It was a wonderful, inspiring, exciting, consciousness-raising endeavor, and it inspired many similar campaigns, all of which have raised awareness of the existence of non-believers, reminded non-believers that they are not alone, and pointed out that one does not need religious belief in order to be a good person or a happy person (this should be obvious, but, unfortunately, to many people, it’s not).

The campaign was inspired by a nasty and intentionally scary religious ad seen on the side of a London bus. In contrast to this disturbing and threatening “believe or you will burn in hell” message, the Atheist Bus Campaign ads were kind and uplifting, simply pointing out that a non-religious, rational worldview is a positive thing and encouraging everyone to enjoy to the fullest the one and only life they have. The ads did this in a positive manner, without attacking or threatening any individual or group.

Despite the non-threatening and non-judgmental nature of the ads, various individuals and groups accused the campaign of being aggressive, inappropriate, and and/or offensive to their religious beliefs. These angry responses demonstrated the exasperating and galling sense of entitlement felt by and expressed by many religious individuals: the presumption that their beliefs should be off-limits to any and all criticism and/or questioning, especially in the public sphere.

Last week, the BHA launched the Atheist Billboard Campaign, a follow-up to the Atheist Bus Campaign. This time, the focus is on raising consciousness about a crucially important yet rarely-discussed issue: the potential negative effects of automatically labeling children with their parents’ religion, i.e. referring to a child as “a Catholic child,” “a Muslim child,” etc. The importance of raising public awareness of and consciousness of this issue was first brought to attention by Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion:

Our society, including the non-religious sector, has accepted the preposterous idea that it is normal and right to indoctrinate tiny children in the religion of their parents, and to slap religious labels on them- “Catholic child,” “Protestant child,” “Jewish child,” “Muslim child,” etc.- although no other comparable labels: no conservative children, no liberal children, no Republican children, no Democrat children. Please, please raise your consciousness about this, and raise the roof whenever you hear it happening. A child is not a Christian child, not a Muslim child, but a child of Christian parents or a child of Muslim parents. This latter nomenclature, by the way, would be an excellent piece of consciousness-raising for the children themselves. A child who is told she is a “child of Muslim parents” will immediately realize that religion is something for her to choose- or reject- when she becomes old enough to do so.

This passage provides a lucid and powerful explanation of the importance of this issue. Forcing a religious label onto small child can have extremely negative emotional, psychological, and social effects, both for the child and for society as a whole, and because it’s a practice that is so common and ubiquitous, it’s rarely thought about or questioned. There’s always a danger when actions become so commonplace that they’re automatically seen as “right” and are thus never questioned or analyzed, and this danger becomes even more of a threat when these actions can potentially have extremely negative effects on a child’s self-perception, individual rights, social interactions, and critical thinking skills.

The billboards point out the inappropriateness of all kinds of child labeling. The inclusion of non-religious labels also serves another purpose and makes a powerful point (echoing both the above-quoted passage and other passages from The God Delusion): of course almost everyone would laugh at the absurdity of a “Libertarian child,” a “Marxist child,” or an “Anarchist child,” yet most people don’t think twice about or have the same reaction to the practice of labeling children with their parents’ religious beliefs. The point of this campaign is to ask why that is and to bring into public consciousness the potentially harmful effects of the religious labeling of children. Obviously, a child does not yet have the capability to decide for themselves what, if any, their religious beliefs are and with what religious tradition, if any, they will affiliate. Labeling children with their parents’ religious beliefs before they are even able to speak takes away their right to decide for themselves, teaches the child that the faith tradition into which they were born is the self-evidently “true” and “right” one, and discourages the development of the child’s analytical abilities and critical thinking skills.

Notice that the billboard also includes “atheist child,” “agnostic child,” and “humanist child.” Although religious labeling is by far the most harmful and dangerous to a child, it’s also inappropriate and limiting to label a child with these non-religious terms. The point is this: share your beliefs, morals, values, etc. with your children. But let them decide for themselves which, if any, labels they will adopt when they become capable of doing so. There’s a vast difference between education and indoctrination, and the religious labeling of children is the first step towards the latter.

It’s crucially important to raise consciousness on this issue. The practice of automatically labeling children with their parents’ religious beliefs has a huge impact on so many people’s lives, yet it is rarely discussed or questioned. Hopefully, this campaign will raise awareness of this issue and will introduce it into conversation and public discourse. It’s a wonderful, brilliant, and inspiring campaign, and it’s an issue that I care deeply about, both because of my personal experience and because it’s vitally important to, at the very least, start to question why the religious labeling of children is seen as acceptable and to begin a discussion about the negative and damaging effects of this labeling. Please, let’s start to question that which is taken for granted regarding the religious labeling of and indoctrination of children.

The Atheist Billboard Campaign is asking these questions and is helping to start a public conversation about this issue, and I’m so very grateful for that. It’s an important and much-needed conversation that’s long past due.

Don’t Label Me Facebook group

@PlsDontLabelMe on Twitter