Charlie

Yes, evolving away from religion may not come to pass becasue we are a species that has the power to believe nontruths to be true. As far as finding mates and raising children I don't see religion having any influence on this.. humans will propagate and form societies regardless of religion.

Regarding indoctrination..
Does it, indoctrination, really have anything to do with whether or not what is being indoctrinated is right or wrong?
For example, as an atheist, if I raised my children to have no belief in God, aren't I also indoctrinating them?

This is probably debatable and may not be a good analogy. As I would say no it is not indoctrinating because I am merely teaching them what is real and scientifically proven vs. beliefs that some people have. So I would call this valid education! However, one definition of indoctrinate is to teach, so I guess I would still be indoctrinating my children. We are all indoctrinating our children..

So it comes down to 'what' is being indoctrinated to the children, who we all know are young, innocent and vulnerable. We should teach/indoctrinate our children to know the difference between what is real and factual science vs beliefs or what is believed to be real! We can and should let them know that there are many beliefs in the world such as religion and how humans have a tendancy to believe things that have not been proved, not just religion/God, but all kinds of things like talking with the dead, being abducted by aliens, ESP... And the crucial part is to teach children to use their own mind and think rationally to make their own decision.

So would you agree that it would be best for children with this approach?

Heck, I'm not saying that people should not have the freedom to believe! It's part of being human. Have as many beliefs as you want, just acknowledge that that is what it is, a belief. Once again, the concern/problem is when it comes down to religious people believing their belief to the point that they turn it into their truth and then it becomes their reality. Once this happens then it is very likely that that person will indoctrinate their children to believe that their belief is reality! That is what bothers me!

Even if there was a religious person openminded enough to teach their children the difference between belief and reality, the child would most likely still end up indoctrinated because they will know that their parents, perhaps the strongest influence in their life, believe a religion to be true and real.

Charlie