"Do You Want to Go to a Firy Place That Smells Bad For All Eternity?"

"...Or would you like to go to heaven, a place that smells good all the time?"

I've got many problems with religion, and one of them is the involvement of children in it. Religion is no place for children (or teenagers and adults for that matter) and the indoctrination of religious ideas into children disgusts me.

This quote about heaven and hell came from the mouth of an eight year old boy in a K-12 homeschool extension school crocheting class (offered by public school) I was in recently. It was met with similar ideas from four other children in the small class (there are six of us total; all but me and one guy are under age 10).

• A boy in class ("brother") was having difficulty with his crocheting project and exclaimed, "Crap!" upon realising he had made a mistake.
• His sister, who was sitting next to him, became visibly upset and stated that he had said a "bad word"
• Another boy in the class concurred that what he had said was indeed a bad word.
• Brother protests, saying that the word he used merely means "poop", but because he is met with disapproval, shrinks into his chair and continues working on his crocheting.
• Sister moved chair away from brother, citing that she could not sit next to someone who said bad words.
•  Boy #2 goes on a spiel, asks if Brother has accepted Jesus into his heart. Sister says that she has accepted Jesus into her heart; however, Brother hasn't. Boy #2 makes attempt to convert Brother and says loudly "I'm so glad I am going to heaven." He continues asking everyone in the class (interestingly, except me) if they're going to heaven, including the teacher, who says "I hope I'm going to heaven."

This whole situation made me so uncomfortable I was considering walking out of the classroom entirely. The fact that the teacher did not intervene in the conversation made me doubly uncomfortable, and Boy #2 was going around in the circle asking about our salvation status, and I wasn't sure whether it would be okay to say "Nope, I don't believe in God."

I wish that people didn't think it was okay to indoctrinate their kids. They must not see it as indoctrination and instead as telling their kids "the truth". Even worse than teaching your child such a narrow view and not proposing other legitimate options is "training" your child to indoctrinate OTHER children.

Gross stuff, man.