Religion holds a special place in our culture as one of the few domains where indoctrination is widely accepted. We would say that parents were overreaching if they taught their children to identify with a specific political party like Liberal or Conservative. We would find it strange if they labelled their children with their favourite musical genre by saying “this is a rock & roll child” or “my kid is a hip-hop child”. But it is generally considered normal for parents to decide that their child is Catholic, or Muslim, or other, and to raise them in this particular worldview.

Should religion be passed on from parents to children, or should children be given more agency or choice in the matter? If we accept that parents pass their religion down, then should we set limits on the kinds of religious teachings that we accept? For example should we accept the teaching of anti-scientific ideas like creationism, or dangerous ideas like the prohibition of blood transfusions?