The activity in question is nothing more than establishing a belief system in a person’s mind, intentionally or not, using a series of simple manipulative steps. The necessary stages for such conditioning are exhausting the subject, getting the subject to admit that the current support system isn’t perfect in some way, removing the subject’s support system, introducing the subject to a new support system, explaining the consequences of not accepting the new support system, keeping the subject isolated from other support systems, explaining the urgency of accepting the new support system, offering a reward for accepting the new support system, and maintaining the subject’s new support system for the length of time desired. The first three steps are part of the cleansing phase. However, no cleansing is necessary if there’s no conflicting information already present within the subject’s beliefs. Thus, there is no need to tire a young child or remove an existing support system to install the new one.

These methods aren’t fantasy; they’re science. The United States experienced the phenomenon firsthand when some of our soldiers captured in the Korean War underwent this process and made a conscious decision not to return after their captors coerced them into believing America was a treacherous country. The Chinese government forces their prisoners to go through this process as well. Only five percent of their prisoners are repeat offenders whereas fifty percent of prisoners in the United States will repeat a criminal offense if released. Even though the prison sentences are much shorter in China, their prisoners are considerably less likely to repeat a crime. It wouldn’t be because they actually rehabilitate them, would it?

When children are at a very young age, their parents unknowingly initiate the conditioning process by informing them that everyone is imperfect. Because they’re not perfect, they must take a role model who seemingly defines perfection: Jesus Christ. By turning their lives over to Jesus, they receive forgiveness for their imperfections and inadequacies. Next, parents must make their children fear the consequences of remaining alone with their imperfections. As a result, they are convinced that Hell is the ultimate destination for people who don’t rely on the support system. In this place called Hell, those who choose not to accept Jesus will burn in perpetual agony. Since the consequences of not accepting the support system are so horrific, and the steps necessary to eliminate the consequence are so simplistic, children will learn to adopt these beliefs if only to keep a distance from the supposed punishment. By this point, children certainly become willing to follow those who know this system best.

To continue the conditioning process, parents must successfully keep their children free from external contradicting influences by encompassing them within a Christian environment in a Christian country with weekly Christian refreshment. Other religions would obviously present conflicting information and weaken their bonds with Jesus Christ, the head of the support system. The other religions would also illustrate the contradictions and consequential uncertainties shared amongst all beliefs. This mental havoc would also create cognitive dissonance, the tendency driven by uncomfortable feelings to repel or justify contradictory information, before there is enough conditioning to stabilize the belief.

Just as Paul told the Romans that there was a sense of urgency in accepting Jesus, parents tell their children that they’ll go to Hell if they know about Jesus and refuse to worship him. Since Jesus could possibly return today or tomorrow, time is of the utmost essence. They absolutely must accept Jesus as soon as possible in order for God to save them from the perpetual punishments of Hell. If they choose not to accept Jesus before they die, that trip to Hell would certainly be in order. Finally, we must not forget about the ultimate reward for accepting Jesus: an eternal stay in Heaven with infinite happiness. How many impressionable young children could possibly refuse this “genuine” offer?

At the tender age this process usually begins, children typically aren’t able to rationalize these assertions or challenge their validity. Just the opposite, children habitually give benefit of the doubt to their parents and role models. As time goes by, the vast Christian American environment consistently pounds the imperative system into their heads day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year. By their teenage years, most Christians couldn’t possibly consider the presence of an error in the Bible, much less a completely erroneous foundation, because it’s unquestionably the perfect word of God to them. They believe this notion because they’re lifelong members of a society that has continually reinforced the “special” nature of Christianity. Needless to say, every religion is “special” in its own isolated environment of observance.

When skeptics ask Christians why they think their religious beliefs are absolute facts, a semi-logical response is rarely produced. Unfortunately, they are never able to see the world as clearly as those who have freed themselves from the intangible bonds of false religions. No Christian would deny that the blood-drinking cult down the street is full of brainwashed members, but Christianity is “the one true religion” with an “authentic savior” who suffered and died for their sins. This nonsensical response comes directly from the conditioning statements reinforced ad nauseam. The defensive assertion offered is a logically unsound loop that has been centrally repeating in their minds for years.