Make religion on a par with alcohol and tobacco, and ban anyone under the age of 18 from partaking of it. Churches should not admit children by law, and religious indoctrination of minors should be a criminal offence. Okay, that's not entirely serious, but it could solve an awful lot of problems.

PaulJ, PORTSMOUTH, UK

Hindus don't do such barbaric things, most don't even go to temples. The odd Hindu might send a skewer through his tongue at those festivals mentioned, but the rest consider him an oddball! We don't do it with institutional zeal like Muslims on Tehran streets or the Christian priest in his cloister.

Rakesh Krishnan, Auckland, New Zealand

Should a secular state interfere? Of course it should. Unless you want to see public amputation, stoning and beheading. Ready for that?

Andrew Milner, Karuizawa, Japan

Mike and Laura, no comment on penile cancer, but isn't circumcision associated with a reduced incidence of AIDS? H'ever, there must be an unavoidable element of risk in the op.

I suspect that in a society with lots of clean water and not too much sand it's more fun not to have it done.

Dave, london,

Harry Marsh: How on earth is wanting secularism - where everybody is free to believe anything (or nothing) and laws are created through rational debate on all kinds of ideas, "not very liberal"? It stands up well against making laws based on old books with numerous interpretations and no evidence.

Camilla, Burnley,

Mike in Boston how about checking your facts?

You could start here:
Outcome of Penile Cancer in Circumcised Men .
The Journal of Urology , Volume 175 , Issue 2 , Pages 557 - 561

Laura, London, England

Our son went to a Catholic school because my husband was Baptised a Catholic . We thought religeous schools have better teaching standards. Our son who has Asperger's was bullied there for a year and the school did nothing about it. He'd talk about Jesus and became depressed at 7 yrs. and suicidal.

Sharon, Birmingham, UK

Paul did not refer to physical mortification here, but the mortification of the spirit by spiritual means, i.e. contemplation of the loving sacrifice of Jesus- 'we love because he first loved us.' In fact Paul wrote that physical mortifications and self-deprivations are useless.

Jim Guest, G. Manchester,

When Philosophers try to be theologians they inevitably only display their ignorance. In 2000 years of intepretation of Corinthians - this is newest and most novel of interpretations.

Stick to the knitting please.

Jeremy Forbes, London, UK

Religion should not be taught to children as anything other than "these are beliefs people have and this is their reasoning behind it". It should never be taught as fact; to do so is essentially child cruelty. Give the child the framework to understand religion and they can make their own mind up.

JP, Bromsgrove,

A very enjoyable article. I was surprised at the end that Prof. Grayling thinks that children can be 'left out of it' in terms of belief. That is surely too simplistic, if parents ardently believe themselves - even if the belief is a lot of tosh.

David, Manchester,

Grayling seeks to impose his secularism on others with the power of the state. Not very liberal. The law cannot be morally or religiously neutral. By excluding any concept of God, Grayling has no extrinsic reference point on which to base anything. He should read The Reason for God by Tim Keller.

Harry Marsh, Fulham, UK

Whether practised on children or adults mutilation, torture and abuse are crimes. To excuse the mutilation, severe physical punishment and mental torment of a defensless child on the grounds that your god demands it is unacceptable. What manner of god demands atrocity as worship.

MCO, Tromso, Norway

Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, YE ARE GODS - John 10.34
I have said Ye ARE gods; and all off you are children of the most high. Psalms 82.6
At the Temple of Apollo at Delphi was inscribed, in translation, Summoned or not the god is always present & Know Thyself.

Jack, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Mike from the USA, it's a 100% myth that circumcision in anyway stops penis cancer:

"THE QUESTION OF ROUTINE NEONATAL CIRCUMCISION", by Ronald L. Poland, M. D., THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, Vol. 322, No. 18 (May 3, 1990), Pg 1312-1315.

Theres rarely justification for circumcision

James C, Newcastle, UK

Mike M - radical double mastectomy and hysterectomy eliminates the possibility of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. But we don't advocate this surgery on young women do we? Circumcision, if voluntary, is fine, like any cosmetic surgery. If involuntary it is abusive and offensive.

LJ, Manchester,

Bring back the old Gods.The present one seems to get a lot of unhealthy pleasure from inflicting misery on his creations. Excellent article from Prof. Grayling.

iain rae, tunbridge Wells, u.k.

Mark M - "circumcision eliminates the possibility of cancer of the penis"

Really? Source please? And would that be in the same way as amputating a nose eliminates the possibility of nose cancer?

James, London,

Paul refers to things of the body, not the body itself. Circumcision is wilfully chosen by the irreligious too. As for the "permanent" tradition of self castration, where is your data from? No "Christianity" I've ever heard of. There are as many (or more) anti-religious as religious self-harmers.

Gareth, Ballymena, uk

Decent article (first 80%), but interpretation of Paul's letters is wrong. These are very clearly analogies to the death of Christ. There is no requirement of self-harm, and no evidence of its practice, in the New Testament. Not sure then how ACG concludes it is a "permanent tradition".

Gaz, London, UK

Religions have doctrine and the non religious have goodness.
Any ethos which enforces doctrine, either in its practises or should not qualify as a religion under the law since enforcement denigrates and insults true belief. Children should choose this only when they are over 18 and mature.

Keith, Rayleigh, England

Oh William, no. Reason gives us no basis at all for a belief in any deity let alone in a specific one and still less in one prepared to intervene in response to prayer. If nothing else, that's why you need faith.

Logical thought won't give you the same answer. Maybe there's a reason for that?

Jon, Winchester,

So it was unawareness of a 'loving presence' which created the countless innocent victims of warfare and natural disasters ?

F Kimbal Johnson, Louth,Lincs, uk

Would the hypothesis that children should be (or should have been) protected from indoctrination, mean that those of us who have suffered same can sue our indoctrinators for abuse?

Personally, I'd love to reclaim a portion of the money extorted from my childhood family by the church.

J D S, Cardiff, UK

I cannot believe this kind of nonsense still goes on in the 21st Century. I expect this comment wont be published!!!

Shirley Bowen, Blackpool, UK

Why are all these so called 'gods' so insecure they have to be worshipped, so weak they need the low life and insecure to carry out their dubious wishes and so uncaring they neeed children mutilated?
Or am I wrong and its just the people who follow them that think that?
Ask why I'm an atheist?

Bill Glanvill, Horsham, Sussex

We need to dedicate ourselves to the wellbeing of the human group we belong to ,However, we need to do this in a way that defines it as charitable loving action rather than violent sacrifice which just glorifies ,promotes ,and condones violence. Violence is not OK under any circumstances.

Ian, Redruth, UK

William, we'll have to agree to differ on the existance of god(s), but to get back to the article where does your 'mysterious non tangible presence' stand on self-mortification?

Gatz, Chelmsford, UK

... yes, but wouldn't it also be child abuse to spiritually starve them? Do the young have souls for legal purposes? Does anyone know?

S. Harvey, Lausanne, Switzerland

To accept one religious practice through theological relativism is nonsense.
No belief is false. A belief is something that can not be disproved by empirical evidence. Debates on the existence of god are no more constructive than debates on what is at the furthest end of the universe - speculation

Richard, london, England

"Beliefs in God can easily be sustained with reason "

No, William Haines of Northwood, they can't! They have nothing to do with reason.

Nice try though.

davep, crieff, scotland

"The idea that there is no God is a weird and false belief and certainly not a fact." It's a dispositional belief. But which god, out of the plethora of different god hypotheses, exists? Their adherents mostly seem to claim a personal relationship but derive different ethics and metaphysics.

David Jones, Loughborough, UK

if it is an adult choice to self harm for whatever reasons then so be it , but secular law should not allow children to do so whatever the cult encouraging the behaviour.
As for the psychological damage of enforced superstition, he had a point , maybe religion should n't be allowed for children

guy, amsterdam, holland

Overwordy article, obvious conclusion. Incidentally, circumcision eliminates the possibility of cancer of the penis.

Mike M., boston, USA

One of the greatest triumphs of secular societies is that it is only within them that the devotedly religious have any hope of learning the difference between education and indoctrination.

James , Canberra, Australia.

The idea that there is no God is a weird and false belief and certainly not a fact. Beliefs in God can easily be sustained with reason but at the end of the day it is the awareness of a loving, mysterious non tangible presence that is the clincher.

william Haines, Northwood,