Elisabeth, that just irks me beyond belief!!!
When we took our foster parent training course, religion was addressed and it was very clear that fparents do NOT have the right to push their religion onto a fchild. I got into an extensive discussion with another classmate who insisted that she would not let any teenage girl in her home go on birth control, because abstinence was the only acceptable option. While she has a right to her conviction, I thought it was very short sighted and dangerous. I just don't think you can make an absolute statement like that without looking at it case by case, without considering each child's individual history. Likewise, a child cannot be forced or coerced into participating in a religious service and they must be given the opportunity to practice their religion is it differs from yours. Which is why I had to wonder why a group home was exempt from the same rules?
Even with my own child, while we share our beliefs with her and tell her why be believe what we do, it is ultimately HER right and responsibility to develop her own beliefs. She needs to question us for herself and find what works for her. Faith that is "forced" isn't faith... Even now, although we will be adopting Miss A, we wouldnt' dream of baptizing her until the adoption is final.
When we were houseparents we were very cognizant of the kids rights to form their own opinions. We were asked on several occasions what we believed and I was very careful to qualify my responses with "this is what works for us", "different things work for different people..." The director of the home was always amazed that the kids were so open with me about their experiences. Well, being open-minded makes a difference. They knew I wasn't going to judge them, because I had already let them know that I understood that people/families/etc do things differently and that's okay. And, I told them in a very honest way that I didn't know what it was to live their lives, so it was impossible for me to judge that. As a result they told me.
Anyway, I agree that it the whole thing can be very damaging for a child. Not only for the reason you stated, but also because they risk that child's sense of security with other people. If our girls were told that people who don't believe what they were taught were bad, how could they feel secure if the next home they went to believed something different? <sigh>