Sounding Off:

The numbers and surveys cited by Steve Smith are not the only verifiable sources out there (“Religion good for kids,” Feb. 24).

The nationwide murder rate from 1996 to 2007 includes these Bible Belt states in the top 10: Louisiana No. 1, Alabama No. 3, South Carolina No. 5, Georgia No. 6, Mississippi No. 9 and Arkansas No. 10.

There’s not a single northern or ‘secular’ state in the group. No New York. No California.

Massachusetts, the seat of secular liberalism in America, comes in at No. 37, followed by Washington, Minnesota, Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Iowa and New Hampshire.

All the Bible Belt and southern states come in way ahead (www.deathpenaltyinfo. org/murder-rates-1996-2007).

How about divorce? Arkansas No. 2, Alabama No. 3, Kentucky No. 7, Tennessee No. 8, Florida No. 9 and Mississippi No. 10.

And godless Democratic Massachusetts? No. 46 ( www.statemaster.com/graph/ lif_div_rat-lifestyle-divorce- rate).

How about child abuse fatalities? In 2007, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Oklahoma are all clustered together in the 10 worst states.

And how about those lefty atheist Northeastern states? Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire and New York are all on the other end with the fewest (www.everychild matters.org/National/ Resources/Geography-Matters- Child-Deaths.html).

Religion is not good for kids because it teaches them to believe extraordinary claims without compelling evidence. It teaches them to believe without questioning. It stunts critical and analytical thought. It instills an us vs. them attitude. It leads to regarding non-believers or people of other religious beliefs as bad, as morally inferior, as hell- bound. Such an attitude is axiomatically immoral. It is wrong. It is stupid. It is dogma.

Talk about abuse.

JOHN TROY lives in Laguna Hills.