In modern day society, it has become an increasingly frequently and alarmingly acceptable practice to indoctrinate children into various religious, moral, and ethical creeds before the child is even old enough to question what he/she is being told. This practice robs children of their rights and of their freedom to choose, and in trying to teach their children "good" moral values, parents are actually committing a definite (though unintentional) "wrong" against their own children from a certain philosophical perspective. Preservation of individual freedom must take priority over instilling "good" moral values in a person, and forcing beliefs on a child (or on anyone else for that matter), regardless of one's intentions, is not healthy for any party involved. This paper will discuss the philosophical as well as psychological justifications for this viewpoint. .
In order to understand the philosophy that gives rise to this standpoint it is necessary to start with a few basic assumptions about the nature of life and the universe. The first of these assumptions is that all things (meaning the universe itself) are inherently neutral in nature1. The second is that the answers to such questions as "what is the meaning of life" and "is there life after death" and other typical theological/spiritual/philosophical questions are ultimately unknowable to any human being2, despite the fact that human nature itself drives us to ask and to formulate answers to these questions (Sartre 18). .
From these basic assumptions one can draw a few important conclusions and observations. The first and most important one is that since the universe is inherently neutral, concepts such as "good," "evil," "right," and "wrong" are entirely human creations. Also, because of the unknowable nature of philosophical questions, one must concede that any definition produced for what is good, bad, right, or wrong is going to be entirely subjective and not correct in any universal context.
