Great article, Glen!

Please ignore the bigots who think they have the right to convince all young school-aged children that they were born evil and that they're going to burn for all eternity, unless they follow their particular brand of religion.

The mental anguish and self hatred that some children go through because of this depravity SHOULD be correctly regarded as child abuse.

Because of this type of religious bigotry, the human race now faces another "Crusades" era, except that this time, the combatants have the bomb.

Will we survive?

Who knows?

If we do, it won't be because of bizaar beliefs in supernatural beings and miracles. Forget feverishly filling the minds of children with fables, fantasies and fallacies. That won't help either!

For goodness sake people, get real! There are people who believe that Superman and Luke Skywalker were real people. You're no different!

Oh, what's that? Yours is the REAL god. Yeah right! Go read about the Ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. They also believed in their gods with equal passion. What makes their belief in their god(s) any different or less valid to your beliefs in your god(s)?

It amuses me to see atheists criticised by religious bigots for being dogmatic, when it wasn't THAT long ago that people who spoke up against Christian beliefs did so under the fear of death! That same reality even exists in some countries today!

What a waste of valuable resources!

SecularGuy,
<<bizaar beliefs>>
Is that some sort of marketplace for outlandish convictions?

Good point Proxy.
You got me! That should read "bizarre beliefs" instead of "bizaar beliefs".
Thanks for pointing out my typo.

Now it's my turn...
Let me remind you of Glen's QUESTION: "Is requiring children to adopt the religious beliefs of their parents not akin to child abuse?"

Like you (it seems), I support less beaurocratic interference, but I support less religious interference 40 times more! Is that another case of tautological repetition? I hope so :-)

Sadly, throughout the world, and yes, right here in Australia, right now, young children ARE being taught to hate others because of outrageous religious indoctrination by their parents and church representatives.

Do you not see that this cycle of hatred has to stop somewhere, some time?

Glen asked if the "requiring" part was akin to child abuse. I believe it is (in many cases).

This does NOT necessarily mean adding state interference but rather, it means eliminating all religious indoctrination in schools, particularly state-funded schools, where there is currently no alternative choice to Christian-based RI (Religious Indoctrination) for any children. They are "required" to be indoctrinated with Christian "scripture" classes.

This is wrong!

Children should be taught about all religions at school That way, they can make their OWN minds up when the time comes.

What other positive alternatives can you suggest?

I’d like to hear some.

SecularGuy,
The author does more than ask:
"Is requiring children to adopt the religious beliefs of their parents not akin to child abuse?"
He proposes a 5 step plan to counter the perceived problem.
I'm merely attempting to point out weaknesses in his proposals.
Furthermore, I have difficulty accepting your claim that
"Sadly, throughout the world, and yes, right here in Australia, right now, young children ARE being taught to hate others because of outrageous religious indoctrination by their parents and church representatives."
Clearly you've narrowed your focus down to Christianity, as you talk of church representatives and not temple, mosque or synagogue representatives.
Can you please clarify your claims with some specific examples on how Christian parents and Church representatives are outrageously indoctrinating their children to hate others?
I don't necessarily mean provide hard evidence.
I mean, hate who and on what basis?

@ Proxy

Religious indoctrination generally denigrates other beliefs or others' belief. See this view by a supposed leader of one Christian denomination about the different beliefs of another -

http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/media/video/saints_and_miracles/

............................

"By effectively encouraging homosexual experimentation, the 21st century secular liberal belief has the statistically demonstrable capacity to harm the child."

No one is encouraging experimentation. Homosexuality is mostly innate, and is now accepted as that.
It is coincidence the HIV/AIDs scenario arose at the same time western societies generally stopped denigrating people for their sexuality.

“No one is encouraging experimentation.”
Legitimising a high risk activity to children is tantamount to encouraging experimentation with it.
If we told our kids that there was nothing wrong with smoking pot we could reasonably expect to see more children experimenting with it.

“Homosexuality is mostly innate, and is now accepted as that.”
This disproven canard belongs with the 10% myth.

"It is coincidence the HIV/AIDs scenario arose at the same time western societies generally stopped denigrating people for their sexuality."
¿Que?
Is it a coincidence, a statistical anomaly, that homosexual males have a 40+ times higher prevalence of HIV/AIDs than heterosexual males, or is it directly related to their behaviour?

In short,
I don't want any religious fanatics teaching my kids about their fantasy god and I don't want any homosexual activists teaching my kids their fantasy, that a man "marrying" a man is "just the same" as normal marriage.

A secular travesty is no better than a religious travesty.