Traditionally, catechisms are manuals written in a question-and-answer format, wielded by the religious to indoctrinate people through rote memorization, often to force beliefs upon children. Indoctrination deters questions and critical thought while it implants unproven, fallacious, and prejudiced beliefs:
Basing itself on Sacred Scripture , which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
Belief is learned by either proof (providing decisive evidence) or indoctrination (exerting psychological pressure). Psychologically, young children tend to believe their parents are authorities on everything from egg prices to life's meaning. Parents must be cautioned against imposing religious beliefs on their children. Embedded within Religious Upbringing Reconsidered is this gem:
We have put to sleep a central part of the child’s personality – the ability to think rationally in a certain area. Put dramatically: there is always hope so long as the mind remains free, however much our behaviour may be forced or our feelings conditioned. But if we occupy the inner citadel of thought and language, then it is difficult to see how a person can develop or regain rationality except by a very lengthy and arduous course of treatment. Indoctrinating takes over his personality in a much more radical way than anything we do by way of force or conditioning.
Indoctrination is difficult to justify under any circumstances.
