Religion+school=control?

as a parent, i feel the need to speak up. i believe in a Creator. i do not however follow any religious teachings. it is something i know in my heart and would not for any reason try to impose onto someone else.

if it were up to me, things such as cultural and/or religious teachings would be left up to the parent at home. i love the differences in ppl, but not when they are being forced down my throat.

i know atheists, christians, agnostics (which i would probably fit best in to), wiccans, and many other ppl w/ different beliefs. the ones that become my friends are the ones that don't impose their beliefs onto others w/ the threat of "hell" or w/ any other lame threats.

honestly, the day that i was able to shed the idea of heaven and hell was the day that i finally became free. but, i believe in a Creator. it is both very personal and very abstract.

as far as my children, they go to church when they want. i would never stop them. but they are well aware, even at their tender little ages that it is up to them to decide when they are older what they believe in.

That is why only those with ears to hear will listen, you might call them the elect.

I would go along with the idea that churches and schools are nothing but institutions designed for mind control except for one little thing. Everybody who ever claims to be a free minded radical thinker seems to come directly from those same schools and churches.

So how good a job can they be doing?