We should be moving towards a secular country.

Also some religions are able to completely disregard laws on equality. Is it right that they can discriminate against women and LGB people in their practises?

When it comes to women there's an argument to be made that they nearly all discriminate, but overall this is the sort of thing I meant about religion not being allowed to stand above the law, far less be involved in making it

Unfortunately far too many lobby for their "special case", and all this for something which is fundamentally a personal choice

Even if the op was theoretically correct about religion, the actual implementation of lots of these ideas would lead to a really terrifying police state.

We're not really a Christian country now.
Our morals and ways of living are based on a Christian ethos, but how many of us say grace before a meal, prayers before bed, go to church regularly or really understand the significance of eg Good Friday/Easter?

I wonder if the OP would have the police raid informal house churches, you know, like Iran and China.

And parents have views on all sorts of subjects that their children are influenced by. Politics, music, food, hobbies... children aren't raised in a vacuum. Their parents heavily influence them in many areas of their life.

This would be totally impossible to police... unless you were going to get social services to remove children who are born into religious families....which is quite a terrifying prospect.

How would you square this with the many, many people that don't follow a religion, but follow a belief set?

The closest I'd come to my beliefs is Wiccan and I wear a pentagram at all times. Would you ban that? What about the Triple Moon? The Triquetra? The Green Man? How about the Ankh? The Evil Eye? The Wheel? The Triple Spiral? The egg? Candles? Pumpkins?
There are so many symbols of belief all around us you'd have to ban almost everything in sight to comply with your last point.

And if you wanted to enforce your secular dystopia, would you also be prepared to lose your Easter and Christmas bank holidays? How about Whitsun holidays for our kids? Do we get rid of Valentine's Day?

Religion, especially of the Christian kind, but also many, many pagan beliefs are everywhere. You cannot ban them, our society is built around them. So are many of our laws.

Do religions really cause so many issues?

I'm a Jew and we just quietly get on with life. We look after our elderly, disabled, and lonely. Nobody slips through the net and we do a lot for non-Jewish charities and causes.

This.

It just sounds a bit Stalinist Russia.

So I shouldn’t be allowed to take my daughter to church with me and let her take part in Sunday School/nativity plays etc. all that she loves doing (she is 7 so is now old enough to be asked if she wants to come and has the option to go to her cousin’s house if not - she always comes).

What is described here isn't secularism. it's intolerance.

OP this would require the UK to withdraw from the European convention on Humans Rights and a complete rewrite of the Equality Act

God no. You're suggesting an intolerant state. I think there's already so much done lately with good intentions but unintended consequences. I'm an atheist, but lately started thinking about what humans loose from losing religion. Their humanity comes to mind...

I’m with you on 1&3. Faith has no place in state institutions

For 2 it depends on whether the church does charitable work

4&5 are ridiculous, nobody needs to be banned from doing anything, as long as they aren’t forcing others to participate.

My guiding principle is that everyone should be free to follow their own faith but not impose it on others (including by the back door eg faith schools).

Definitely agree but 1, 2 and 3, but I don't think you can ban children - or anyone else - from attending worship on a private basis and I'm not comfortable about telling people how to dress, unless as PPs have said it's offensive

Basically I've every respect for individuals' rights to their belief; I just don't want them forming any part of public policy or being allowed to impose on others

This!

So, it's very complex though isn't it? It's nuanced. I am a nominal Christian, but I don't believe in a God, and view religion as very dangerous at it's fundamentalist end. I think I put myself down as Humanist on the Census.

So, I think we should remain a nominally Christian country, as that is what our laws and morals are based upon. However, I do believe we should distance church and state, in all politics, education, and public services, and that does, by it's very nature limit the expression of faith practices and beliefs in those institutions eg: Michaela school prayer practices by Muslim students, and access to Abortion rights against Christian fundamentalist beliefs, as two examples.

An atheist and I think you are being massively unreasonable. I agree on the house of lords. I also agree on schools because I think it causes division. We can't educate people separately according to their religion then throw them into society together and expect them to get along. Better to have everyone educated together about all the major religions so that we all become more understanding of other's viewpoints. Your other ideas are way too far IMO.

Step 4 and 5, definitely much too far, remember staunch atheism is the other side of the coin to evangelism, and a bit of a worrying suggestion,maybe getting carried away thefe.

Agreed step 1. Step 2, really? Churches are not entertainment venues, they serve the public on a different level, pastors and parishioners are there in bad times and good, a vicar will come to your house and pray for your dying relative. You might not need this, but spirituality is ancient and innate in human beings, the hundreds of 12th century churches, often built on earlier sites of spirituality over the UK attest to this.

Step 3, good arguments for and against this. I've viewed it as a positive - I can get my kids into a good school if I go to church regularly. But equally I can see the other side so I'm not sure tbh.

Having said all that, I'd be more worried about the extreme fundamentalist branches of any religion than the little old C.o.E and church schools.

Religion tends to be an excuse for war, not the root cause. The real reasons are generally power and money.

Goady McGoady thread.

Many entertainment venues are registered charities! Our local arts venues all are, local cinema is even.

My church provides the socially services the state fails to provide for a contact centre for separated parents to social clubs for adults with learning difficulties, toddler group, food bank, activities for older adults ... and no requirement to be a member of the church to use them. We don't earn money so no tax to pay. The gift aid we get helps us fund these as the service users are not charged

How is that going to work with Islam?

I can't see Muslims taking very kindly or peacefully to your proposals.

I'm not religious but nah fuck that, sounds a bit much.

Not convinced there’d be fewer wars without religion. We’d just find different excuses to start them.