Indeed. I find it tragically amusing that American people speak of freedom, while actively trying to diminish it by invoking god and country.

Go all the way.

All identifications are illusory.

There is no "self".

All mental formations are "brainwashing".

Let them all go.

Religion is brainwashing. The linkage between religion and patriotism is false, and should not occur.

The way I see it, no matter what you do you are being manipulated. You can actively participate in making your own manipulation or at least directing the manipulations of others towards things congruent with your objectives, or you can be an unwitting participant, in the attempts to make each and every last person into a fighter, a rioter, and a political demogogue, for the sake of pushing the advertising psychosis that sells all the approved poisons. The controlling all seeing eye of horus that is our secret super shadow government. But, you could just find your own poisons. Couldn't you? Most every man is either a womanizer or a munchausen mother's boy to some extent. Who doesn't objectify? Don't you love your family? Maybe you're the prophet from the mountain on high. "be sure to cook your pork a lot. ". It doesn't even really matter what the fodder is. I say rise above it. If you see their game, you are already better than the battle. ( Was that too much? I can never tell... )

All the issues raised are designed to stimulate tribalism tendencies. By including the individual in rituals which are inclusive to the subject, the stimuli is designed to cause a sense f belonging to that particular group- and adhearing to their dogma. Is it brainwashing? I would consider it more indoctrination and it is formidable. Soldiers, are indoctrinated to kill by invoking patriotism and diminishing the enemy as sub-human or evil. Religious followers are indoctrinated to spend their money to assist in the indoctrination of others and build the religion. It is only by critical thinking that we can observe these ploys and become aware.

Like anything, there are many shades of gray. The stuff you list ranges from passive (national anthem before the ballgame) to aggressive (religion). Anything that influences you, from the arts to categorically stated "facts" can be considered brainwashing, and as an evolving creature, it's a question of what is intellectually vs what is evolutionarily benefitting, an which outweighs the other.

HYPOCRISY! The country was founded on hypocrisy. I believe that is one of the reasons other countries don't respect us, and l don't blame them.

The school prayer piece annoys me because kids can pray at school without issue. The school just can't force kids to pray, which is what they truly want.

I guess it would be the second meaning of the word, like hypnosis some people are more suceptable than others.

noun

1. a method for systematically changing attitudes or altering beliefs, originated in totalitarian countries, especially through the use of torture, drugs, or psychological-stress techniques.

2. any method of controlled systematic indoctrination, especially one based on repetition or confusion:
   brainwashing by TV commercials.

3. an instance of subjecting or being subjected to such techniques:
   efforts to halt the brainwashing of captive audiences.

Of course, it is. divide and conquer

This entrainment/brainwashing process has been evolving since the Reagan era. It has it's tentacles in all areas of government, education, culture, etc... The United States has been eroding into a cult for some time. I personally did not think it would get this far.

Yes! Another one I hate is "Support our Troops".
NO! The military has been an instrument of regime change and nation building ever since WWII and probably before that too.
"But the military is an instrument of government, not a political organization, blah blah blah"
Yeah, well... the mothers of dead children who had their head blown open by shrapnel don't give a shit about what you tell yourself to fall asleep at night.
Nope.
"Support Our Troops" Is more brain wahing.
I'm saying, No! Sorry... I'm sure there are a lot of Veterans who might be offended by that... but I don't have respect for any branch of the US Military. Learn to say no to murder and bad leadership... "Just Following Orders" is not an attribute worthy of honor in my opinion.

Totally agree with you. Notice it more than ever now.

Christians want religion to be taught in schools because indoctrination of the young is the primary vector through which the madness spreads. My life would have been much better if I had not been taught that there was a God when I was a child. After that I accepted it until I started looking at scientific evidence and realized it was all false.

Us v Them mentality and fear ot the other.

I just love this site. It is nice to see that there is intelligent life out there.

Yes, it's all brainwashing... or, rather conditioning.
(Real brainwashing entails reducing the subject to a terrorized, egoless thrall, usually through torture of one kind or another - see "A Clockwork Orange".)
And ANY education is a form of conditioning.

The language we use depends on your goal.

If you want to keep prayer out of schools, then, one tactic is to get all the people that think prayer in schools should not happen together and pressure the government. A lot of theist don't want prayer in school. Calling them brainwashed might not be the best way to build a coalition.

Ayuh

Brainwashing, Would be the alteration of ones views from one state to another, most often in a coercive environment . Most of what you refer to would be Persuasion and Conditioning. Persuasion has been standard Primate currency since before we developed language. It is the purpose of both language and currency.

Conventional patriotism is just a secular religion!

Most were against School Prayer but not one person commented as to why it is necessary to have the National Anthem played at nearly all sports events as well as many social/entertainment happenings. Is it a subtle form of brainwashing... or lock-step political indoctrination, that shouldn't be questioned? Participation certainly isn't voluntary. If you don't stand and sing, you're liable to get your ass kicked (...even if you're not an American citizen). The military flyovers and prayers of benediction along with the anthem at sporting events seem to tie it all into one neat package...military/god/government...just like in North Korea.
Personally I feel that the National Anthem should be reserved for really important occasions, otherwise the more ubiquitous and rote its recital is, the less important its roll becomes...which for many already is just something that has to be gotten through before somebody yells, *"Play Ball!!!".

It has to do with cultural assimilation. All cultures do it--these are the rules, this is how you do things, blah blah. So yes, it is a type of brainwashing. But these days, we're so aware of other cultures, other ideas, other ways of doing things, because of media, the internet, and different people living in proximity, that cultures, particularly western cultures, are not insulated from others. So it's harder for thinking people to just accept all those rules.