Most non believers didn't have your luck, most non believers had to overcome severe brainwashing from parents and society in general.

I think religion should be taught in school. All the religions and mythologies so children will be exposed to many forms of superstition and will be more likely to see through the bull shit that their parents have been bashing into their heads.

I was forced to go to Hebrew school and I hated almost every minute. I’d daydream looking out the window every evening. The positive thing is it brought me to atheism.
And ritual circumcision for non medical reasons is genital mutilation.

I have NO problem saying that the religious indoctrination of children should be classified as felony child abuse and endangerment.
I've been saying that for a very long time.

Man, that's a tough one. For many years I felt the same as you do. Though to be fair, the emotional abuse I was subjected to as a child went outside the bounds of a mere religious foundation. Where religion was concerned, I was forced to be baptized when I was a teenager, in order for our family to become members of the church my mother wanted to join, as I was the only child that wasn't otherwise baptized as an infant. I was perhaps more pissed about it knowing they were forcing me to be a hypocrite and do something that I truly felt belief should be a part of. It was somehow worse in my eyes for them to force me to lie than to simply go through the motions on a maybe, as even then I knew I firmly did not believe. It certainly created a huge chasm in my relationship with my parents, and that persisted for many years. I don't know exactly when I came to the understanding that even though their methods were fucked up in my eyes, all of the abuse I was subjected to was not intentional. They did truly love me in their heart of hearts, and they were doing the best they could with the tools they had. Eventually I learned to be grateful for the experience as it allowed me to develop better tools for rearing my own children, and I have always allowed them the freedom of choice. I let them go to Sunday school with my parents or their cousins/friends and explore the religious world. I would answer any questions that came from it honestly from my own viewpoint, but also stressed that people believe many different things, largely based on the culture and heritage they are reared in, and that their own belief was going to be something they had to decide for themselves. When my own adolescent son began going to a church youth group with his best friend from school, I supported his decision. When he came home and said he wanted to be baptized, I supported that, too. He was well aware of my own lack of belief, and I know it was a difficult thing for him to broach with me, but I never shamed him for his choice or expressed disappointment, though in some way I felt as if I may have failed in my efforts to teach him to think critically. Fast forward a few years and he has come to his own understanding, and through his time at the church saw enough of the hypocrisy and false facts regarding the world we live in that he has since pulled away from it on his own. I had not failed after all, and he is likely more confident in his decision because he made it for himself.

Yes and no. It would be really hard to give a neutral education for children. We are so inside our culture that is difficult to see the difference between other alternatives and "the normal". And for culture I include religion, but think about other stuff as manners (that varies a lot and if you think some of the rules don't make real sense), the idea of nationalism itself, political visions etc.
Of course to use violence (emotional or the physical ) is wrong in any term, and religion knows how to use emotional violence. But apart from that, to retransmit the culture should not be wrong, no matter how we disagree with it.
Society will teach how to question the house culture, that is what the civics and scientific formation in schools are important.

yes that is a child abuse. I remember when the idea of burning in hell forever was making me cry every night. I thought it was really hard to get to heaven and what if i died suddenly.

Your a better person than I. I don't get sad. I get irritated. As I get older, I'm less tolerant of religious people's BS. My own family knows not to bring it up around me. I can't remember when I became Atheists. It's been so long. Probably when I stopped believing in Santa.

That's actually how I'm raising my children. To be critical thinkers who can decide their own beliefs. Their father is religious, I am not. When they ask religion centered questions I simply answer that some people believe X some believe Y and others believe Z. Science shows N. Then they decide what makes sense to them. It's one of the few things their father and I agree on.

Yes...I agree. Children are not born with any religious beliefs and they should be allowed to decide for themselves when they are old enough, it is how my parents raised me and I then raised my own children in the same way. My father never called himself anything other than freethinker and encouraged me and my brother to freely read, discuss and think about everything, then make our own minds up on our points of view and choices.

Raised my kids to be independent

I was among those who were forced to go to church and believe what was taught there. I was baptized at age eight, under pressure from my parents. It took me until my late 20's to do my research and discover that it was all just a scam. I wish I had discovered that earlier.

You think that saddens you?? Imagine then either not being able to come out to your family as they can excommunicate you. Or coming out, and having them make you the evil black atheist sheep and they CONSTANTLY try to manipulate or shame or guilt you in to rejoining the faith. It would be well and good if it STAYED in childhood and was a distant memory. But this shit often continues way in to adulthood for many of us. Hence we become anti theists.

My parents never pushed religion on me, but it was just enough to leave it in my early 40s. I wish I would left it earlier in life. It would have made life easier.

Imo, forcing any beliefs of adults, etc, upon children IS a form of Child Abuse.
The mind of a child is still as soft and easily manipulated thing, it SHOULD allowed to grow and develop at its own pace and speed totally WITHOUT the unwarranted influences such as religions.

There is not anything you can do about this other than worry and make yourself sick. When I first heard of home schooling it was my understanding that it was for religious reasons and thought it was a bad thing. As I came to know more people who were home schooled for religious reasons I find there are many who are not religious, or if they are at least they are open to hearing other peoples views. I also found that many of these kids are smart and figure out things on their own. It is like they were told stuff that might not have had any proof of or for, but they had the curiosity to figure things out on their own.

On a visit to Santa Fe some 3 years ago, we were touring a church that claimed to have a "miracle" staircase in it. While we were there a woman with a toddler came in and, walking up to the various saint's banners hanging behind the pulpit, had her child kiss each and every single one of them! Sickness!

Today I agree with you, we gave our child the option of religion or free thought. I'm delighted to say she chose the later and like me and her late mum takes every opportunity to enlighten the ignorant. We did let her learn about many religions and sects, never shying away from objectively explaining them.
I was Christened and it did upset my parents that I came out atheist as they had made a promise to god to raise me as a Christian. Not that they ever went to church other than for weddings, funerals and so on.
My mum's dad learned about a lack of god/gods by flattening Italian towns, killing and maiming German teenagers (they god with us on their belt buckles). No loving god could allow that to happen or the evil he saw in Bergen Belsen that was forced upon god's chosen people.

My mom made me go to church, she stayed home. She was a firm believer in spare the rod, spoil the child.

If they did that those who run religious institutions would not have the power and wealth that they enjoy today totally losing the whole point of running them.

Passing on cultural heritage may be inevitable, but there is no reason why cultural heritage can not include a sceptical view. To those who would say that indoctrination is not child abuse, I would say that one of the symptoms of child abuse, is that the abused are often made to feel life long guilt, for imaginary sins on their part. Now if you wish to tell me that religion is not abusive, persuade me that people only follow extreme physically harmful penitence if they are adult converts.

I'm guessing most of us here grew up with some sort of religious influence,,, and yet we all grew out of it,, grew to realize it's faults and how to deal with it... Otherwise, we wouldn't be here... CAN I GET AN AMEN!!

"It really really saddens me knowing that many children were raised in a household where religion was forced on them."

Many children? How about, "most children." As we know, nearly all religions seek to 'educate' the youth in their midst. Parents, without thinking, impose their own belief system on their children who are, most often, too young to make an educated choice.

Therefore, if I were born in Dehli, I would likely be a Hindu, but if I were born in Baghdad, chances are I would be praying 5 times a day and claim that Mohamed was God's (Allah's) messenger. But I was born in California in a community of Christians. And Christianity in California, let alone, the US, occupies a vast panacea of religious thinking.

Bottom line: our beliefs are largely a factor of chance ... where we are born, more often than not, determines what religious faith we believe. And if this is true, what god could find fault in any soul who was born on 'the wrong side of the border?'

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "forced". If the child is unwilling, but faces punishment (or condemnation) if he doesn't at least pretend to believe, then I would agree that that's abusive.

I do not agree with many here that mere indoctrination is abuse. I cannot fault parents for teaching what they believe to be true.

I don't fault my (fundamentalist Christian) mom for teaching me what she believed. She thought she was doing what was right and necessary. When I left religion, she was sad. Not angry, not condemning, not coercive...just sad. (I think she's gotten over it, by the way - and she's mostly done with fundamentalism, too. Hooray!)