Parents shouldn't indoctrinate their children to believe that one particular religion is superior.

First I would like to define two of the words in my title for this debate so we're on the same page, so to speak. Indoctrinate, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is to instruct especially in fundamentals or rudiments. Superior is defined as something, or someone of higher rank, quality, or importance. Now with those two terms defined I would like to address why such indoctrination is wrong. All religions have in one form or another; a set of rituals, or beliefs, that must be performed, or held in order to enter the after life. Eternal life is after all the main goal of most, if not all religions. Some may say that good works, or helping others is of great importance, but when examined they are only preached as a way to obtain eternal life in many religions. I certainly have no quarrels with those who choose to do acts of kindness, regardless of the motive. What I do have a problem with is indoctrinating the young to believe that their religion is superior, and all others are in fact wrong. Nearly all religions profess to be the one true faith, but obviously they cannot logically all be the one true faith. In my opinion children should be exposed to not only the faith of their parents, but also those of other cultures. Now obviously parents are not going to adopt this, so I suggest that all students be required to take a comparative religions class in school. They would not be taught to believe in a particular religion, but be made aware of the cultural influences in all major religions. Children must be raised with open minds, especially when growing up in a time of such global interdependence. Religion can, and should be taught, but not in an exclusive way. There is virtually no evidence for any miraculous claims in any religion, and therefore it is very irresponsible to teach it to children as if it were fact. Children are raised to believe that it is respectable to hold a belief or opinion without any evidence, and against all logic. Not only are they taught to believe that this is respectable, but actually worthy of praise. This sort of teaching is very corrosive, and is not the sort of thing that we should be flooding young minds with in such a scientific, and technology based age. The beliefs of faiths are, in many cases, completely irrational and not based on any logical inferences. Children are taught to believe that something is right or wrong solely because God, via an ancient book, says so. In fact there is reason to believe that in many cases books were not written when they were said to have been, nor by who claimed to be their author. In some cases books were authored centuries later, and facts fudged to prove earlier prophecies correct. In other cases, such as the Christian Gospel's, in many instances books of the Gospels will contradict each other on important events. The children are not the only ones harmed by this indoctrination though. For instance, Christian missionaries tell naive adults in AID's infested Africa that the use of condoms is against God's will, and can even spread the disease. Apart from the later statement being fallacious, and morally absurd, they have no knowledge of the mind or will of God. Therefore they should not pretend to be able to speak on behalf of him simply because they read his book. What about when the beliefs of ones parents are imposed on a child and actually do cause harm? Circumcision is no doubt painful, and on some occasions leads to infection, and in rare cases death. Should an archaic belief such as this be allowed in the modern era? There are emotional effects of many religions too. The fear of hell is one belief that can inflict serious, and long lasting mental trauma on young individuals.