Since the bronze age, it's always been a method of controlling the population with fear. The powerful worked out that it was easier to instill imaginary bullies than having to be seen as the bullies.

Common sense isn't common.

Terror/fear tactics date to ancient times and probably before even. Religions do not hold a monopoly on this tactic of control. Families, governments, religions all employ various means. It is disgusting, appalling, cruel.

I may have mentioned a while back that I am currently writing a book on the topic that religious teaching of children is abuse. I grew up in the Catholic church and migrated to protestantism in my late teens. I studied theology in my late 30’s only to discover that religion is, at best based on myth, and at worst based on outright lies in order to maintain a power base for the dominant class (initially men - sorry guys). For the past 25 years I have been living as an avowed atheist and have enjoyed being out of the shadow of guilt, as well as realising I have within myself everything I need to live a fulfilled life.

I had harsh religion shoved down my throat. As a little kid, I spent hundreds of nights crying, terrified that god would kill me during my sleep and I would wake up in hell. Pastors told me and the other kids in confirmation class that all people who did not practice Christianity would burn in eternal hell, including people who never got told about Christianity and also babies who died w/o bothering to get baptized. It was awful. I was dragged to church crying and begging to stay home. I got told "as long as you live in my house, eating my food, you must obey my orders." Sick. Messed me up for a long time.

What they call "indoctrination" is a form of brainwashing. They want children to grow up to be faithful tithers. It's a horrible, immoral scam.

All religious indoctrination of children should be classified as a
First-degree Felony, punishable by life imprisonment for whomever
does it.
Period.
No exceptions. No parole. No early release.

You can't "ban things" people into using common sense and reason. Spread the common sense and reason, that's the best why to end the abuse.

There are aspects of religion I can hardly bring myself to face, such child abuse is one..

Religion free, it seemed my daughters became ‘the counselors’ of their young friends. I neither encouraged or discouraged, both were/ are far more nuanced than me.

Some, shit - many wonder why my Atheism is militant…. You’ve just as well described Exhibit A

Although I don't entertain religious argument anymore, when I did, I would ask parents if there was anything their child could do to "earn" a punishment that lasts forever. "Of course not! I love my kids!" Was the typical response. I would then say, "Well, you might wanna talk to your God, then."

The concept of Hell turns God into an extortionist.

For God, being all knowing, timeless and ever present, created man with full knowledge he would fall (or your definition fails and God is not all knowing, ever present and timeless).

Hell is thus like a shotgun held to everyone's head. God then says "IF you love me and Obey me, you won't get shot. It is your choice"

BUT

The Same God, created Hell for this fallen man as a predetermined fate.

Like a shotgun Strapped into everyones mouth and rigged to go off UNLESS you love God
and obey God.
And such a God model already knew whose brains would be cherry pie on the wall and whose would not, since before TIME BEGAN.

That makes your idea of salvation actually a violent extortion, if fact THE MOST violent extortion possible as it is eternal.

That would make your proposed God an Evil SOB.

I agree, it is a form of child abuse in my opinion. My sister took a catholic priest's Hell & Damnation sermons seriously as a child and became obsessed by them. My dad had already been wondering about the virtues of catholicism but hearing my sister's genuine fear was the start of the end for him. He stopped going to church and stopped forcing the kids too so that by the time I was born I had absolutely no pressure in either direction. Needless to say the whole family are now either Agnostic or Atheist. So the priest's constant threats from the sermon box backfired big time.

Good luck with that! Problem is state/religion, two sides of the same coin. Both help enforce the other's influence and control.

It's such a central tenant to so many religions you'd have to ban religion itself.

So count me in.

Good luck to us, we're gonna need it.

The concept of Hell was routinely taught by the religious fundamentalist headmaster of a certain primary school in New South Wales when I was a child. It took me 20 years to rid my mind of his poison. That experience has made me the rabid attacker of god mobsters that I am today (at age 66).

I went thru this as a child in abusive catholic school

I went to a Baptist grade school. Helped me become Agnostic by 10.

I agree. I was Christian for 30 years and the thing that kept me one was my fear of going to hell. I look back and think how could i have been that stupid. Then I realized I was programmed as a kid that this was the truth and that it was the same truth as water is wet the sky is blue and the earth is round. I lived most of my life in shame or guilt if I did this or didn’t do that. Just a bunch of bullshit to control and make people act the way you want them to.

Ban Santa as well, also cruel

I agree with the above totally, Ban the indoctrination of hell for children as child cruelty. great idea I have not heard.

Yes, then we taken back to moral dilemma: who is and should be in charge of a child's life?

I have an idea. The white society that started and spread Christianity should, for example, come clean and admit that religion is fictional and has been been a reality. Start with Great Britain, England to Africans, eg.

I agree with your every word, but the greater question is how do we stop them? How could anyone ever make this stop? IDK. Possibly prison terms if it is ever found out that you indoctrinated a child this way. This would also be tricky and could backfire and be used a wrong way.

In the new testament Jesus talks about hell as much as heaven. About 2/3 of Christains pretend hell dose not exist. What do they do now? Rewrite the King James version. They already got 40,000 Christains demonstration, and rewrites. The whole thing losses it's meaning because there was just made up in the first place of poems and stories and loose evidence of their history.

Agreed 100%

Its a pretty simple concept really. If yo