Dear Bob,

If I faced the difficult choice of having my child educated by either a Muslim Imam or by Richard Dawkins, then I would select the Imam.

Dawkins probably has his facts right while the Imam probably hasn't, but I care more for my child's heart to be at the right place than for his/her head to be filled with the right facts.

This particular Grand Mufti who is mentioned in the article, however, who wishes to use the brute power of the state to oppress others, does not have his heart in the right place and so, if it is between him and Dawkins then I would regretfully select Dawkins.

Ah yes another Right wing front the OZ institute of progress or AIP, IPA rearranged?when all these RW rabid defenders of Free Speech start lobbying for the removal or loosing of the defamation laws which are more of a preventive of Free Speech than 18c ever is.
But you wont hear a peep out the wealthy & privileged about that,nor the Lawyers,News Corp seem keen to shut down the HRC especially after Bolt the failed Googler got his knickers in a twist.
Now we have Trump in the US in the image of Murdoch Hannity,Faux News, an ignorant twisted proto II Duce,he not bright enough to be Adolf but he giving it a good try.
The Catholic Church has blasphemy laws, the way Trumps going going he will introduce them after he has shredded the 1st amendment, followed by others to take the US back to the early 18th century,pre Civil War or will they will be a rerun of the Depression

Beaucoupbob,

You think that giving children a religious grounding is child abuse; I believe that keeping them ignorant of Christianity is child abuse. One of the big regrets of my life is that I did not allow my children to receive religious knowledge. Consequently they, my grandchildren and my great grandchildren are totally ignorant of Christianity and the importance of its existence to the type of life we enjoy. I robbed them of an opportunity I had; robbed them of the choice to take it or leave after they knew what it was all about.

Blasphemy? People should say what they think. Some religionists call any criticism or difference of opinion, 'blasphemous' when they are nothing of the kind. Discussion must not be stifled by screeching blasphemy.

Many of the posts are further examples of the attempt of religion to impose its beliefs upon those who have questioning, thinking minds.

For centuries society has been told what to think, what to accept, what to believe by the industry of religion. Freedom is what is critical - freedom to learn, freedom to understand, freedom to accept or reject, and importantly, freedom from dogma.

By refusing the rantings of the religious hierarchy, we are firming our own independent rational thought. By analysing statements, not accepting them at face value, we will force proponents to be more factual in their argument.

the failed theory of evolution shows how easy it has been for the secular religion to dumb people down.

Ponder,

Try wrapping this around your "questioning, thinking" mind:

The militant secularists and humanists are the biggest propagandists in our society; they are the enforcers of dogma. Five days a week, in public schools, they ram their atheistic, socialist crap down the throats of our kids. By contrast, there hasn't been any Christian education in public schools since 1968