Comment 23 by CarolineMary

We Brits were brought up to respect the church of England, even if we weren't members of it. I am a product of that system. When I was a kid the rules about a daily act of worship were followed. But it is hard to see anything dangerous in getting together to sing a hymn and listen to a teacher either tell a bible story or preach a bit. Things like 'gods watching you, even at the bus stop so line up nicely. '

I agree that on a superficial level, not much harm may be done by singing hymns etc. But the problem is that it still indoctrinates children to believe that religion is something to be respected without question, something that they carry with them into adulthood. This is precisely what religious organisations aim to do by taking control of education. It gives people a very blinkered view which can cause problems on more serious issues.

For example, I was watching a debate on TV the other day about the court decision in Germany that circumcision of children for religious reasons should be illegal. There was a journalist on the programme who was neither Jewish nor Muslim (presumably she was either a Chrisitan or atheist) but nevertheless she was outraged by the courts decision to interfere in the traditional practices of the Jewish religion.

Now surely there has to be something seriously wrong with someone who makes the effort to go and appear on a TV programme to support the rights of others to mutilate the genitals of a child! Only religion (or unthinking respect for religion) could drive someone to this kind of extraordinary behaviour. I have no qualms in branding such people as suffering from a form of mental illness.