Definition of equal as per wordnetweb:
- be identical or equivalent to; "One dollar equals 1,000 rubles these days!"
- be equal to in quality or ability; "Nothing can rival cotton for durability"; "Your performance doesn't even touch that of your colleagues"; "Her persistence and ambition only matches that of her parents"
- having the same quantity, value, or measure as another; "on equal terms"; "all men are equal before the law"
- make equal, uniform, corresponding, or matching; "let's equalize the duties among all employees in this office"; "The company matched the discount policy of its competitors"
- peer: a person who is of equal standing with another in a group
- adequate: having the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task;
Seems to me your definition of what equal means does not go with the actual definition of equal. Now, had that saying said "all men are created exactly the same" then your argument would make more sense. But in reality it doesn't take a genius to understand that equal does not mean exactly the same right down to the molecules. I would say "equal" in that phrase was meant more as the second or third definition above. Just like a dog is a dog, a human is a human which makes them "equal" unless one of the 2 responsible for creating the human was from another planet.
If your parents are religious (Islam included), then they start brainwashing indoctrinating their children in THEIR dictated views, and for children resistance is futile.
Interesting. Imagine if we simply decided to do like what some animals do and we simply leave our children to fend for themselves. Oh how quickly our race will drop in numbers. Ironically most animals are designed with natural instincts that drives them to survive but some still need assistance when still infants. Take tigers and lions for example; the parents have to teach the cubs the proper techniques when it comes to hunting for their survival. If these animals were simply left to learn for themselves they would simply die in most cases.
Brainwashing, indoctrinating, those are really strong words to use and you have to be willing to back such words up with more than fancy talk and the occasional "this is what happens when religion gets out of control" stories before accusing the majority of such actions. These are basically subjective words as you can't define what constitutes brainwashing or indoctrination when it comes to what parents teach their children. You can simply have an opinion on what they teach their children.
Ironically, although you consider yourself an atheist technically you, like any religious person, have a belief. You believe that there is no God. By the same token if you have children you will teach them what you deem proper based on your "beliefs" whether religion is part of it or not. You may not believe in God or be religious but I'm sure even you have to agree with at least 6 out of the 10 commandments and would teach them to your children even if not referencing the coincidence that your atheist beliefs do not keep you from agree with 6 of the 10 commandments.
If one teaches their children to hate white people (or blacks), then they will raise racists. If they teach their children (often through example) deviant behavior, they will raise psychopaths and perverts. [I rely on a traditional dictionary here and none of this PC BS] ... and so on.
This is not truth, this is assumption and opinion because one does not really know what the person will be regardless what you may try to teach them. As the saying goes "you can bring a horse to water but you can't make them drink it". Not every bad person was raised by bad parents and not every good person was raised by good parents, that is the truth.
Truth be told, we have little to no control (except for the strong willed and those pronounced mentally ill) as to how we are groomed until our middle 20’s.
I consider this to be somewhat inaccurate. Although we may not always be able to control what is taught to us we can control what we learn. I do not believe people are computers simply waiting for programing to be installed, I believe people already have their minds set on what they want to believe from the moment they can think for themselves and simply wait for the opportunity to pursue this belief.
I knew from way before I was taught that women were to be respected and not treated like possessions, that taking what was not yours was wrong (that includes material stuff and life itself), that things happen for a reason and not simply because of chance.
What has previously doomed the people of Earth to suffer the leash of one slave driver after another and to repeat these failures throughout history was a lack of knowledge and the ability to readily disseminate information … a restriction we are currently not denied.
Ironically even with the knowledge being available we still "suffer the leash of one slave driver after another and to repeat these failures throughout history" but not because of "a lack of knowledge and the ability to readily disseminate information" but because of the lack of interest in learning all together. The real problem with the people of this nation is choice, they choose to be ignorant even when everything is there for them to educate themselves easily.
Here's a prime example of a person who chooses to be ignorant. Rep. Christopher Lee, a married man, was dumb enough to take a shirtless picture of himself and send it to a random women from Craigs List. Seriously, how stupid can you truly get? Even if stupidity is not a choice, this guy chose it none the less.
