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no, no, no, if you teach your children beliefs I approve of, that's different...

Not if you teach your children critical thinking and to base their opinions on something provable.

Then you're still doing brainwashing/indoctrination. Let's not forget, it's "irrespective of the opinion's merit".

Besides, just as you hold your "must be provable" views dear, similarly the religious parent holds his or her religious views dear.

I think there's a useful distinction between teaching a set of opinions that must be held regardless of evidence and teaching the practice of forming one's own opinions based upon evidence, but it's a tricky point to make.

I would say that the oposite is true. Brainwashing takes the same mecha isms that we use as humans to be able to learn our how to behave in the society, and how to learn to be a person. I have small kids and they are like empty disks looking for something to copy. They copy behaviours that sourround them and make them part of their personality.

Adults just slow down the writting but we always try to fit in the social group that we are living. And that includes political opinions, faith, etc...