My wife’s mother, quite inappropriately, bought our son a book all about god and prayer and shit like that. I got pretty pissed off when I saw it, but I didn’t say anything to her about it, because to do so would have only made both of us angry. I later told my wife to give the book back to her, and to let her know that she can keep her religion to herself.
For the most part, Mormons raise their children to believe that the Mormon religion is quite simply the truth, rather than telling their children the real truth: that their beliefs are just that–beliefs–and that the child can take ’em or leave ’em. Being an atheist myself, and being married to a Mormon, I made sure my wife understood the way I planned to raise our children in regards to religion, before we even decided to have children. I told her that anything she tells our kids, I will tell them the exact opposite, but I will make sure that they know both points of view are only beliefs and not necessarily the truth, and that they are free to believe as they choose. My wife is a somewhat reasonable person, and she feels the same way about raising our children as I do.
Mormons also baptize their children at age eight–in my opinion, entirely too young to make important decisions such as which church to belong to, especially after having contact with only their parents’ religion. “Age of Accountability,” my ass. If children are accountable for their actions at age eight, then they should be allowed to vote, drive, smoke, drink, have sex, and do whatever else they wish–after all, that is the age at which Mormons believe children become accountable for their sins. I won’t allow my son to be baptized at age eight, even if he wants to, just like I won’t allow him to drink, smoke, or do any other thing that he doesn’t fully understand the effects of.
My main gripe with religion is that it’s “hereditary,” that is, most children learn (“inherit”) it from their parents. If a child was raised by a pack of wolves, do you think that child would grow up to believe in god? I don’t think so. That’s why I don’t buy into any religion or god, because it’s something you couldn’t learn on your own–it’s something you’re taught.