JAC Online

In Defence of Indoctrination

We used to do indoctrination much better than we have done in the last generation.  Sociologist Erving Goffman developed the concept of the 'total institution' that describes an all-encompassing type of life shared by a group of people.  The military provides a good example of it.  And The Salvation Army used to be an excellent representation. 

 

Every aspect of a person's life could be wrapped up in The Salvation Army, even a generation ago.  Covenant, worship, friendship circles, socialising, schedule - time, money, vocational aspirations, language, dress, songs... an ascendant sense of identity was provided by The Salvation Army. 

 

I stumbled on to one classic example of the indoctrination - using the term in the original sense, 'into doctrine' - this week with a Canada and Bermuda Territory publication from 1978 by Cyril L. Kingston called An Army A B Cs.

 

Here's the text: 

A stands for ARMY so mighty and grand

B is for BIBLE, for BONNET, and BAND

C is for CITADEL, home of our CORPS

D is for DRUM and the wide-open DOOR

E an ENROLMENT when soldiers are made

F for the FLAG so proudly displayed

G is for FLORY! glad spirit expressing

H - the HOME LEAGUE offers friendship and blessing

I is for INSTRUMENT, good news declaring

J for a JUNIOR, a song of JOY sharing

K for the KINDNESS all children should show

L for the LESSONS we learn as we grow

M is for MARCHING, also for MEETING

N for NEWCOMERS, let's give them a greeting

O for our OFFICERS, souls are their care

P is for PENITENT, also for PRAYER

Q is for QUESTIONS, the Bible's our guide

R our RECRUITS, new strength they provide

S for the SONGSTERS who bless with their singing

T for the TIMBRELS which set the hall ringing

U is for UNIFORM, tidy and clean

V is for VETERAN, three cheers for him!

W for WORKERS, WILLING and WISE

X marks a text we should each memorise

Y for YOUNG SOLDIER all children should read it

Z is for ZEAL, all soldiers need it. 

 

The good news is that The Salvation Army is making some strides toward returning to an unashamed posture.  Canada and Bermuda's brand new 'Ready to Serve' Junior Soldier DVD series and sendthefire.ca are unapologetically salvo.  USA Western's wildly popular WarDrobe and SAVN.tv, Australia Southern's 'Follow The Black Cat' and Department of Youth, New Zealand's firezone.co.nz, training schools like SAVED2SAVE, Railton School, Revolution Hawaii, various campuses of The War College, USA Southern's Captain Gabriel, training courses like SA101/201/301, and several other initiatives are strategically aiming at different aspects of people's lives - moving us once again toward a total institution. 

 

What are the next steps:

- books - thanks to JustSalvos for their great kids line of books, but we need more aimed at kids; we need books aimed at teens, at young adults, at mature and old people; we need books aimed at more issues than we're covering these days... (We know one author who has titles on holiness, leadership, mission, discipleship, identity, and prayer... so we're covering a lot of subjects); 

 

- radio - thanks to Wonderful Words of Life (USS) for their consistency, but we could spin more radio (online?) with various specific markets;  - tv - we have done tv pretty well in the past - from a generation and a half ago in England with BBC to the earliest days with Arnold Brown and The Living Word - but we might more strategically exploit tv time (coverage, documentary, and maybe production); 

 

- online - we've not owned internet like we have owned each of the various media in modern history - movies, tv, radio - but there are currently initiatives - the boldest being SAVN.tv - aimed at catching up to some other Christian evangelistic initiatives (though we should strategically decide if we're going to piggyback on excellent existing projects or if we're going to try to create SA versions of them);  - programmes - cradle roll, junior soldiers, band of love, YP company, corps cadets, recruits, soldiership, league of mercy, home league, and so on worked when deployed faithfully.  Let's introduce them to a new generation; 

 

- meetings - open air, knee drill, holiness, salvation, soldiers, etc. all worked when deployed faithfully.  Let's introduce them to a new generation; 

 

- uniform - our uniform worked in the past, but we can do even better these days with the wide range of casual uniforms now available (from USS A-OK division's informal high collars through WarDrobe's epaulet-hoodie) as well as some great quality t-shirts and jackets and hats and more; 

 

- language - well, we've slipped so far it may seem unreasonable to even hope that we can return, but (and see articles in recent JACs - Semantic Antics, in http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_075.pdf and Blood and Fire Under Fire, in http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_074.pdf ) if we return to calling officers, corps, soldiers, meetings, by their accurate names would help significantly. 

 

- identity - it may be false nostalgia to suggest that in the 'good old days' salvationists identified themselves primarily as salvationists, but can you imagine an Army in which we do that?  In one city, we don't have to - one prayer letter from 2012 had this story: "The other day one of our Juniior Soldiers Seth, was one of two boys suspected of graffiting the toilets at school. The principal Natalie told me that she confronted him and she was taken aback with the response she was given. "No Mrs Jenkins, I am a Junior Soldier, and I would never do anything like this because I wouldn't want to ashamed (sic) Peter and Diane". She is blown away with the attitude of these young soldiers and the difference God is making in their lives."  And how about the day when officers stop mis-identifying themselves as 'pastors', 'ministers', 'church leaders', and 'clergy'? 

 

- mission - well, as you may know, our mission is to win the world for Jesus and we are Saved to Save.  If we return to these goals instead of the committee-speak description of our activities aimed at avoiding lawsuits, we'll be well on our way toward accomplishing the true mission. 

 

Indoctrination is, purely, to bring someone 'into doctrine'.  That's a good thing.  Let's start doing it.  Let's return to the total institution of primitive salvationism that was on its way to winning the world for Jesus.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

   

 

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