Is it normal to think that parents raising their children religiously should...

Of course, but I still "explored" various religions when I was in my early twenties.

I like the community aspect that a lot of religions have, but I found everything else was a lot of nonsense. And most religions are extremely sexist which I find very repulsive.

Agreed.

i think many governments are religious in nature, and operate within every implication of a religious system.

note how closely our electoral and senatorial processes mirror the papal system at the vatican. even that aside, governments in the past several hundred years the world around have functioned like churches in periods of societal "awakenings".

political spectrums in nearly every nation are riddled with propaganda vying for every second of our attention at times close to an election of any significance. often voters are pushed from one point on a binary spectrum to another-- two "opposing" parties who are really just wrapped up with their respective competing buisnesses and firms. These "opposing" parties make trivial, societal white-elephants out of issues that shouldn't even be issues in truly just societies, such as racial integration, homosexuality, and contraceptive rights...just to distract populations from games involving big, big money. when one party wins out over the other, the primary flow of money just shifts. the winning party becomes mega-rich, while the losers become semi-mega-rich.

in the worst places, there are absolute regimes, so the common citizen does not even have the luxury of pretending that they have democratic power as would citizens of a politically binary country. when you look at these places, i think it is no coincidence that many are theocratic. and as im sure you know, many governments are OPENLY religious (as opposed to acting on religious principles and then shrouding the conversation of these acts with a politically correct language).

it seems these days that when we vote, we are always told to look to the future. deadlines are frequently moved, failed measures to "improve things" are replaced with more and more failing measures, every idea is a recycled one, and the whole time we hear--"It will get better if i win because _______".

to me this seems religious, because religions have taxes of tithes and promise ETERNALLY better, brighter futures. religion and politics even share a common body--ever the two-headed ceberus. the perfect afterlives in religion are conditional, often times actually based around the distracting white-elephant issues made up by bureaucrats (immigration, drug laws, homosexuality, contraceptive issues...i could go on :D ).

the thing is though, is the afterlife actually better? how many people reading my comment have died (and stayed dead--please no "i technically died" stories). the thing is, despite it all, we don't know if the afterlife is better until we have ACTUALLY DIED. we can have firm, even unshakable convictions that our religious beliefs are true, in the same way that a citizen of a nation state can have unfailing faith in their political systems. we've yet to *die* though, politically--we have yet to shed our entire past political life and do something that works. I don't think its trial and error, though--I think deep down every person knows what would truly work, but each individual has various amounts of fear attached to that knowledge.

"I believe marriage to be a government isssue not a religious issue"

The institution of marriage belongs to the church lol. They invented it.

You just want to be tolerant of everything, nice to everyone while confusing that with "progress" , well sometimes one effects the other and you have to choose and not live up to the "brain dead, wishy washy" stereotype of an overly liberal person who doesn't think beyond surface value.

I'm not making fun, i'm just saying you're statments are conflicting. You are spitting in catholics faces and on their tradition by allowing gay marriage, something their religion considers evil. And as marriage is a part of their religion and not the gays you can see what i'm talking about if you "think"

Agreed, one thing that caught my attention that isn't brought up often is how the pastors even insist the Bible be taken literally.

Even if it was not meant to be somehow taken literally, what would it EVEN MEAN? It's just clearly bullshit.

Note: I'm not religious.

Firstly, "raising a child religiously does not inevitably brainwash them, destroy their ability to think rationally or fit in with society."

What I mean is a child raised religiously won't inevitably share the beliefs of their parents, nor will they inevitably be rendered incapable of rational thought, nor will they necessarily be at odds with the rest of society.

Comparing slavery with religion is bizarre. Religion is an aspect of every society, a HUMAN aspect. As you say, many people have an idiopathic sense of and perhaps need of something beyond, and that is what makes them attach to various religions. Therefore religion fits into society, it's often an unavoidable aspect of it because even if you took away all the religious doctrine in the world, that void would be filled again by new doctrine. Science cannot disprove religion once and for all because most religions have at the fundamental level a belief in something that is beyond our capabilities to prove or disprove. Justification for slavery, on the other hand, based on genetic arguments of intellectual inferiority, is quite easily disproven. The greater justification for the abolishment of slavery in America was, at its heart, a moral and ethical issue - something ultimately agreed on by Christians and non-Christians.

I wouldn't raise my child religiously. I'm not keen on other children being raised religiously either; in fact I entirely see where the OP and you are coming from. I believe a child should have the freedom to develop intellectually and socially, but also spiritually, without having a religion imposed upon them. HOWEVER my main contention is with a law forcing parents to adopt this stance. I don't believe the consequences of a religious upbringing nor our disagreements with it are severe enough to warrant laws against it.

Quote: "raising a child religiously does not inevitably brainwash them, destroy their ability to think rationally or fit in with society."

I am seriously going to quote that to others as the absolute limit of ignorance and foolishness that a religious minded person can obtain.

It's without a doubt one of the funniest quotes I've ever heard in my life. The rest of these idiotic quotes can be found in the Bible and Qur'an. ALL very funny.

Any child having anything "beaten" into them is a victim of abuse, whether it be religion, homophobia, racism or indeed atheism, acceptance of homosexuality or a belief in racial equality. No child should be beaten into thinking a certain way.

A child who is in no danger, who is not being physically harmed, who is being fed and schooled, who is being clothed and who has shelter is a child with greater luck than millions of other children on this planet.

Laws are a contract forced upon everyone from birth, and should therefore be considered very carefully - they are not some MAGICAL SOLUTION to shape society.

A society forcing parents to cease raising their children religiously is actually quite similar to a parent forcing their child to be religious. It's a game of who has the bigger stick - either way, someone is getting whacked. That is not the wonderful ticket to "peace and sharing" and "understanding other cultures" as the OP implies.

Secular education that teaches morality and ethics outside of religion, that teaches rational and analytical approaches to problems, that teaches the fundamental shared values of society, THAT is the wonderful ticket. THAT is the reason many kids (INCLUDING THE OP) who are raised in a religious household see beyond their parents' belief system and are therefore able to decide it's not for them.

So maybe we need a Brand New Testament that makes it okay for gays to marry, women to make decisions regarding their own bodies, war to stop being launched in the name of god, immigration to be tolerated and even welcomed, and of course....children to be raised with agency. Congratulations Marisol, we've arrived.

the religious non-violence which you pointed out is often exponged by the hand of law, which i discussed in my original response to you.

creating laws against ALL types of societal progression is no better nor worse than straight up violence.

as for the "lack of evidence"...im an anthropologist trained in qualitative and quantitative ethnographic methodology. i do not have time to publish a full study on here. i have spent quite some time researching and observing the demographic in this question through firsthand experience, public inquiry, and where I could not learn directly, through endless media pieces. i don't spout what i don't know.

I think Dad here just about said it right. Society will only progress with science and technology, not religion. However, society would definitely benefit from having religion gone altogether.

Religion?
So you are speaking of Islamic terrorism as well?
I dearly hope so, because for some (valid fearful) reason, when people speak of 'religion' they forget about that atrocities that have happened in the name of their belief in 'God'.

When they asked terrorists why they would want to kill so many innocent people, the answer was because they love Allah, and couldn't wait to get their virgins etc after death. (in the case of failed suicide bombers)

If these teachings of 'religion' were instilled by their own parents (of which they ARE) is that ok? I mean its all in the name of their good religious beliefs!

Religion IS bad, not just for extremists (ie fanatical religious believers). Because it removes responsibility even guilt (you may call sin) And misplaces it with judgement and unfounded fears.
A common example is when you hear of PARENTS who allow their children to die because they didn't use modern medicine or medical practices.
Or a child is told not to associate with an atheist, although the other way around, the child atheist has no concerns for being friends with the religious believer (except hoping the silly believer actually wakes up one day)

There are trillions of horror examples I could provide, all stemmed from a parent who has allowed a child to follow the holly book belief system. Do note, no 'God' recited the entire bible to a man (or men rather) to write down. Unless you think some crazy man heard voices without anyone being there for months possibly years. I mean you do understand this is a known mental condition. God did not write the Bible (or Qur'an) because 1. Men wrote it, we already know that. 2. There is no god, since 'religious' people have never provided ANY fact or anything, not even one prayer answered EVER!

To say that "there is nothing wrong with following the true teachings of religion" is obviously incorrect. Christians DO bad things, some hate homosexuals (note this is now accepted by your 'society' you mentioned) Some kill or die in the name of their nonsense religion. The list goes on and on, Sexual abuse of minors! Islamic girl genital mutilation! Christian signs everywhere telling children they might go to hell? I mean I could write pages and pages, its nearly never ending.

IF you are referencing those 'Christians' (only) who are not so fanatical (ie don't follow the bible properly) Then as long as they don't impose any of their unfounded beliefs onto me or others (including their own children) then let them live in fairy tale land, it THEIR life they want to waste. But its NOT their right to waste their children's life.
I've always said keep religion away from children, once they have studied science and evolution (in school) and finally turn 18 or 21, THEN throw them a bible. I'm positive they'll get a good laugh out of it (I note some still revert to unfounded belief as adults, but at least the children are safe).

I think it was Richard Dawkins who once said that crimes committed in the name of religion, should be charged twice. Once for the crime, and another for belief in this absurdity that is against our own 'society' modern understandings.