[Angus]

No-one has to respect Religion which is, after all, nothing but an umbrella term under which all faiths seem to have been dumped. However, one should respect the rights of other people to believe whatever the hell they want that gives meaning and structure to their lives. I would say that telling children there is NOTHING for them other than this short, miserable life, at the end of which there is a black and empty oblivion, irrespective of whether they have been good or evil human beings, is just as illogical and without factual evidence as would be indoctrinating them into any particular religion.

Why not just afford people the courtesy and respect of allowing them to decide for themselves what they wish to believe in? - I daresay most of the belief systems of those on this forum wouldn't stand up to empirical scrutiny.