I find the anti religionists to be just as noisy and dogged as I do the religious fundies. This thread is another example of that, in the responses. The usual suspects come out, use the example of a fundamentalist couple (ever heard of demagoguery?) and then paint all of us that have a myriad of faiths and beliefs with the same brush.

No need to restate what others have said already, other than to say that civil society, and membership in it, has obligations to protect our young folks. People have a right here to their belief as well. When the two are in conflict, then the State has an obligation to act until the courts make a determination.

As to the idea that Don expresses, it is ludicrous. To suggest that parents don't have a right to teach the children they created their own value system and religious beliefs goes beyond the pale. Because you don't believe in these things, you believe that all folks who do should be prohibited from passing on their beliefs? What then, beyond food and clothing, is the role of the parent? Nice theory, but wholly impractical. That would be like me prohibiting you from teaching atheism until a child is old enough to make their own determinations. The facts are that people will almost always arrive at their own place, based on life experience, in matters of the soul without your interference in the rights of parents to raise their kids.

Mick