I would really like some hard evidence that this really is child abuse. I was raised Catholic before I became an atheist and I don't even see any kind of harmful psychological effects that can be sourced back to a "hellfire" religious upbringing. My experience is only anecdotal of course, but we really really need hard evidence from psychologists before we repeat this "child abuse" claim, ad infinitum.

Its hard for people who don't think religion is the "root of all evil" not to roll their eyes at that. Just think of your reaction when you see this ad from PETA

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00666/peta_666287n.jpg

Does it make you roll your eyes? Can you spot the obvious fallacies in the advertisement? Now, think for a moment how a similar ad about religion might look without hard evidence from the psychological research community.

What would your responses be when someone pointed out some research like this in response to that petition? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_of_religion#Religion_and_health

Ask yourself honestly, is there really evidence to back up that claim?

I'm no fan of religion, but I would like hard evidence to demonstrate it is indeed child abuse before I sign any petition.