Heaven and hell. Jesus Christ and Satan. Joseph and Mary.Christmas
             and Hanukkah. We have all heard these terms throughout our lives.
             Chances are we all have differing ideas on the meanings of these, and
             they all affect us in different ways. Since the beginning of time, people
             have been fighting for their beliefs and their religion. The many
             opinions of Americans, and the opportunity to express them, leads to a
             wide array of lifestyles, rituals, and beliefs. Nowadays, "religion"
             means many different things to Americans. This illustrates the freedom
             that Americans possess and the way that it shapes their differing
             opinions on the past, present, future, and the definitions of wrong and
             Religion affects us in the earliest years of our lives. Though
             children may not acquire knowledge of religion from their own
             viewpoints, they adopt religion based on their parents' beliefs and
             practices. For example, many children can start off their lives by being
             baptized or christened to a certain religion. This is the first step of the
             parents' influence on a child's religion. This sets the children off on a
             path that the parents have laid out for them. Another instance of
             parents affecting the childrens' religion is whether or not they go to
             church and what church they attend. Whatever the parents believe will
             carry on to their children at a young age because they trust their
             parents with their own well-being and trust them to show them right
             and wrong while they are too young to see it for themselves. If a
             child's family practices a certain religion, then that is what the child will
             know and will not wonder about the validity of it. If some children
             never celebrate Christmas, then the children will not know that there
             are any other options. The children will be used to that and will not feel
             as if they are missing out on something, at least not at a young age.
             T...