What All Schoolchildren Learn: Are We Making Them Good And Ethical Humans Or Religious Zombies?

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 18 October 2023 “I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.” ― W. H. Auden According to the Israeli newspaper Hamodia (The Informer), quite a few 'high-profile' terrorists of Hamas are the products of seminaries (madrasas) where they received conventional education in Quran, Hadees, Islamic Theology and Quranic ' sciences.' The predominantly religious studies hardened all these people. This has a bigger context and connotation. Most of the madrasas are the nurseries to groom future terrorists because the kind of primitive education imparted to the impressionable kids at madrasas, can envenom their minds and make them hardcore Muslims and fanatics who can slit anyone's throat for the sake of religion (read Islam). Evil is done to them by inculcating all religious garbage in their psyche. These kids grow up with an atavistic hatred for all those who're followers of other faiths and even adherents of other sects, e.g. 'educated' at a Sunni Madrasa, a Sunni child is indoctrinated and taught to hate a Shia Muslim. Even Deobandis will hate Barelvis and this will go on. Mind you, both Deobandis and Barelvis are (sub) sects of Sunni Islam! Granted, all these religious seminaries school the children to become hardcore Muslims because of their skewed and completely religious curriculum, but other agencies are also equally responsible for such intense zealotry. A Muslim child is taught in his infancy that a Jew is his lifelong enemy and vice versa. What's drilled at childhood, stays with you till you kick the bucket or kick someone else's bucket! Home is a child's first school and when parents teach their offspring to hate someone because of his/her faith, indoctrination already begins. In today's Hindu India, Hindu parents are telling their kids that Muslims are treacherous and untrustworthy people. This belief gets strengthened when a Hindu child goes to school and gets to read the distorted history which demonises Islam and Muslims. In the neighbouring Pakistan, Muslim kids are 'academically' taught to hate all Kafirs (infidels / non-Muslims). So long as we continue to teach such things at homes, seminaries, schools, colleges and varsities, we'll continue to churn out fanatics and terrorists. In these times of differences and discrimination, it's essential to see the kind of education being given to children. Are we making them good and ethical humans or religious zombies? It's time for all to ask these questions for the survival of mankind. ------ A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URl: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/students-good-ethical-humans-religious-zombies/d/130923 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism