Examining Religious Indoctrination
Introduction
I’m not generally a fan of quoting the Bible, but there’s one line that captures an essential principle of critical thinking better than many textbooks:
“Why do you look at the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but fail to notice the stick in your own?”
— (Matthew 7:3)
It’s a timeless reminder: before we critique others, we need to examine ourselves.
One of the most foundational principles of critical thinking is the ability to subject our own beliefs to the same level of scrutiny we apply to others. This is especially important for those of us in the secular and skeptical community, who often pride ourselves on being evidence-based, rational thinkers. Yet we, too, are human — and susceptible to confirmation bias and groupthink. Sometimes, we accept ideas not because they’re well-supported, but because they feel right, or fit the narratives we prefer.
In this series, I want to shine a light inward — examining common claims made within secular and humanist communities with the same skeptical scrutiny we apply to religion, pseudoscience, and superstition.
Let’s start with this one:
“If children were raised without religion, very few would adopt it as adults.”
It’s a comforting thought. It suggests that religion is a kind of inherited cultural virus — and if we simply interrupt the transmission, it will disappear within a generation or two.
But is that claim actually supported by evidence? Does the data line up?
If it were true, we’d expect to see a clear pattern: in countries where children are widely indoctrinated with religion, belief should increase. And in countries where religious indoctrination is rare or discouraged, belief should decline.
Let’s test that theory. We’ll look at two very different countries: the United States and China.
What the U.S. Data Tells Us
In the United States, a religious upbringing no longer guarantees lifelong belief.
According to Pew Research Center, about 31% of people raised Christian disaffiliate from religion between ages 15 and 29, with an additional 7% doing so after age 30. By contrast, only 20% of those raised without religion adopt a religious affiliation in adulthood.
In short: religious parents are increasingly losing their children to secularism. Further data from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) shows that the religiously unaffiliated now make up over 27% of U.S. adults, up from just 6% in 1991. Projections by Pew suggest that the share of U.S. adults identifying as Christian could fall below 50% by 2070, while “nones” may rise to over 40%.
So in a country with a relatively high rate of religious exposure in childhood, we’re seeing a clear and continuing decline in adult religiosity.
But What About China?
Now let’s look at a very different case.
China is a country where children are not only raised without religion, but in many cases are actively taught that religion is irrational, outdated, or even harmful. The government has promoted state atheism for more than 70 years. Religious education is rare, and religious activities are often restricted or tightly monitored.
If the secular hypothesis were correct — that removing religious indoctrination in childhood leads to secular adulthood — then China should see a consistent decline in religious belief.
But in practice, the pattern runs in the opposite direction.
While only about 10% of Chinese adults formally identify with a religion, a significantly larger portion — between 20–25% — regularly engage in religious or spiritual activities, including prayer, temple visits, or ancestor worship. These numbers come from multiple studies, including the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) and Pew Research Center.
Even more surprisingly, Christianity has grown dramatically. From an estimated 10 million Christians in 1980, some estimates now place the number at 60–100 million, depending on how underground churches are counted.
And it’s not just Christianity. Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religions have continued to thrive, particularly in rural areas and among older generations.
Once again, there’s a clear disconnect between secular expectation and observable reality: religious belief is rising — not falling — in a country where children receive almost no religious indoctrination.
So What’s Going On?
The evidence suggests that religiosity isn’t just a result of childhood indoctrination. Something deeper is at play.
I would argue that the more powerful influence is not what children are taught to believe, but whether they are taught how to think for themselves.
In the U.S., despite flaws of the educational system, there is greater emphasis on individual expression, independent reasoning, and critical thinking. Students are often encouraged to question what they’re told, to evaluate evidence, and to form their own conclusions — even when those conclusions go against tradition or authority.
In contrast, the Chinese education system places a stronger focus on obedience to authority, rote memorization, and conformity. Questioning what you’re told — especially from figures of authority — is often discouraged and, in some cases, actively punished.
What does that mean?
When American children grow up, even those raised in deeply religious environments (as I was — in a fundamentalist evangelical household, ultimately going to China as an evangelical missionary, before I finally rejected it all), they still retain the tools to question and reject those beliefs. They can examine evidence, think independently, and decide for themselves.
But many Chinese adults, having never been taught to critically evaluate authority or to question what sounds persuasive, may be more susceptible to charismatic religious leaders. If they are presented with well-framed religious claims, particularly by an authoritative figure, they may simply accept them — not because they were indoctrinated as children, but because they were never taught how to question or think critically at all.
The Real Lesson for Secular Advocates
Rather than focusing our efforts on preventing children from being exposed to religion, we should be focusing on teaching them how to think for themselves.
Because we can’t stop religious parents from sharing their beliefs. But we can work to ensure that all children — regardless of what they’re taught to believe — are given the cognitive tools to examine, question, and challenge those beliefs later in life.
This shift in focus — from simply opposing indoctrination to promoting critical thinking — may prove far more powerful in shaping the future of belief.
To reframe the claim that I am challenging, here is a claim which I believe is far more consistent and fact-based: “If children are taught to be critical thinkers, then regardless of religious upbringing, far fewer will adopt religion as adults.”
Sources:
- Pew Research Center (2022). Modeling the Future of Religion in America. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america
- Pew Research Center (2023). Is China a Religious Country or Not? https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/30/is-china-a-religious-country-or-not-its-a-tricky-question-to-answer
- Pew Research Center (2023). Measuring Religion in China. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/08/30/measuring-religion-in-china
- Public Religion Research Institute (2024). Researching American Religious Affiliation in 2024
https://www.prri.org/research/religious-affiliation-american-religious-landscape-2022
Thinking for yourself – you nailed it!!