I have no problem with parents who want to bring their kids up in the same religion as themselves. Most children, like myself, will make up their own minds that it is rubbish or not by the time they are teenagers.
This will happen whether they are taught in Private or Public schools Runner!

What I don't like is those parents who bring their kids up to believe that all other religions(or having no religion)is somehow evil.
That attitude merely propagates hate in people.

I also don't like those that instill fear into their children- such as telling them they will burn in the fires of hell or suchlike!

The worst upbringings must surely be amongst those children who are brought up to truly hate people of other religions, and seek to hurt, destroy or kill either the people or their beliefs.

We have seen evidence of this violence through the ages- such as between the Muslims and Christians in several countries, and between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland/England.

This is not so much child abuse however, but more a total destruction of that child's future. Hate is such a destructive emotion.

Yes your absolutly right Mitchell only agnostic/atheists have the right to indoctrinate their children with their belief system or world view.

Runner,
You're right when you say public schools are such morally dangerous places for children.

It much safer to send them off to be molested by a priest or Christian Brother.

When it comes to world history, the track record of Christianity is not exactly morally spotless - and when it comes to the indoctrination of young minds, there's no difference between force-feeding them Christian dogma or what you see in a Buddhist temple, Synagogue, Muslim Madras or any modern cult.

The principle is always to get them before a certain age and hopefully, they're yours for life.

Who do parents think they are. The problem is that it is so important to indoctrinate our children in so many areas that who decides which are right and which is wrong. I am sure that most people would feel that there is nothing wrong with indoctrinating into reading, writing and math. We develop life skills and teach them socially acceptable behaviour that forms our culture. Is this wrong? But suddenly we are abusing our children by teaching them religion, personally I agree but that is my opinion and I handle it with my children by keeping them away from religious education. They will be teenagers soon enough and at the age of reason they can explore and develop their own opinions on the subject without the lingering guilt caused by childhood religious indoctrination. There is a good reason why the catholic church says "give me a child till they are 8 and I will have them for life". The truth is we rebel against our parents and claim that we won't do as they did but they are our only instruction book in life and I'm sure most of use recognise how much we rely on our parents guidance now we are parents too. Life is a lucky dip, good up bringing bad up bringing, I see both in my childhood but in the end I make the best from what I was taught and try to develop my own understandings of life. Influence over children will always exist but how we exert that influence can change and with that change improvement can be had for our children. We no longer pretend that their are not paedophiles in our church's and schools, we don't approve of belting children for being bad and we understand that their brains change and develop causing behaviour to alter over the years. Maybe we should use our knowledge and move forward with our children rather than hold them back with our fears, after all the worst thing we give our children is our fears and prejudices.

we are unique
You flatterer you -*Blush*.

Most people understand the rights of other individuals to follow a faith even if they don't subscribe to it themselves.

Suze makes a good point about hatred. We can only hope that whatever 'faith' or value system is taught, that it is done with love in mind and not hatred or intolerance to other viewpoints.

For the most part that happens in modern countries - fanaticism is the exception rather than the rule.

This mornings Today program featured the story of a woman who 'escaped' from a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS)with her 8 children,all born in the cult from a forced marriage.
The leader has been arrested and charged for a range of offences ranging from rape to Paedophilia and over 400 children have been taken into protective custody.

The defenders of religious teaching in this forum might consider the consequences of trauma ,stress and confusion in the minds of the children removed together with over a hundred women who voluntarily walked out, having to come to terms with the brainwashing they had been subjected to under the influence of their 'prophet'.

Added to the unfolding evidence of endemic abuse within the Catholic Church, now offering 'counselling' to their victims, it seems to me that there is very good reason for our society to consider the mental health of our children as equally important as their physical well being in healthy diet,exercise abstinence from smoking and other drugs.

Australian of the Year, Professor Patrick McGorry,highlighted the neglected area of mental health and It is essential that we consider all the factors that contribute to the problem, including that of misleading information as to who we are