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Children should be taught about religion, no matter which culture they live in. But not the way it is being taught today, and not forced upon them with fear tactics.

First, let's define "religion." If you mean religion as a set of belief structures and moral codes that should be applied to everyone within a society, religion is one of the glues that holds together a culture and prevents it from falling into utter chaos and self-gratification.

If you define "religion" as attending meetings at a certain place and time every week, then you believe in a system which leads to mass-thinking via socialization. There is no connection between practicing religion and following the teachings of a religion, unless there is some more sinister purpose in the minds of the leaders.

Teaching children ABOUT religion is another matter altogether. There have been religions among human beings since the dawn of recorded history. If you do not teach children about religion, you are leaving a massive hole in their understanding of human culture and history. It is a matter of fact that religions exist, and that some people take them entirely too seriously, and pervert their religious texts to justify heinous acts of violence and murder.

It is also a fact that organized religions contribute time, energy, and resources at helping their fellow man out of hardship and starvation. They have helped lift countless millions out of poverty and degradation, and occasionally bring the light of truth shining on abject dictatorships. They have given people hope that life will be better.

Religion is a schizophrenic beast. Radicals within them too often wrest control of the mass of people within a religion and send them down dark paths, rationalizing the behavior as the only right way to be, since they are right by the word of whatever deity they worship, whether it be Yaweh, Allah, The Universal All, or a three-headed snake.

As long as the believers in a religion retain their freedom of thought - and action - a religious education makes sense. But when the will of another person is forced on a child solely for the sake of power over their behavior, then teaching religion is a dangerous tool abused all too often.

Learn more about this author, W Thomas Payne.
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