Indoctrination: Worse in the Military or on the College Campuses?

[bluestateguy]

I grow tired of hearing conservatives whine and complain about indoctrination that allegedly goes on inside college campuses, as if it is somehow "indoctrination" to expose a kid to different points of view from what he or she has been hearing around the dinner table for 18 years. The Right pisses, moans and complains about professors and administrators who do anything short of wave the American flag, suggest that God made America special and that God chose George W. Bush for the presidency.

Yet, I wonder how these people like John Leo, Thomas Sowell and David Horowitz feel about the allegations of indoctrination in the militray that I have heard about from many veterans. I wonder if the indoctrination from commanding officers is just as stringent than what a student hears from professors. Arguably it could be worse because the military has command authority, while universities have little or no command authority. Two nights ago listening to Ray Taliaferro's show two military men called the program to attack Ray for his views. It was very obvious to me that all they were doing was repeating jingoistic lines that sounded a lot like Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men". I wonder from those of you who have served if the indoctrination is worse in the military than it is on the college campuses. If so, we should demand that conservatives express the same outrage.

[bobbieinok]

1. lots of luck!!!!!!

right-wing indoctrination = TRUTH = very good

liberal indoctrination = LIES = very bad

<sarcasm now turned off>

[david_vincent]

2. Seems to me that there are plenty of colleges

where you can go and hide from ideas, if that's what you want. At Eckerd College and Seattle Pacific University, for example, faculty are forbidden to teach anything that contradicts Biblical teaching. There are probably lots and lots of other places like that as well. So the whining is coming from young people - or, more likely, their parents - who chose to go to an institution where they would encounter differing viewpoints. Since they could have chosen not to be exposed to the contest of ideas, they have no right to complain about the consequences of their decision. And besides, if they don't like it, they can always transfer.
Avoiding debate is a sure way to starve democracy. We can hope, however, that young people who do attend colleges and universities that shield them from ideas might start to reach a greater understanding after they graduate. I know someone who went to Bob Jones University, and she has completely come around to being a reasonable, open minded, and (not coincidentally) wonderful person.
My own experience strongly indicates that there is far more "indoctrination" coming from fellow students than from faculty.