Vince,
I think death is not something to keep secret from children. Although we've one had one close family pass away in recent years, my H and I included our children in the grieving process. We did not have them attend the viewing but they did go to the funeral and we answered their questions the best we could. Now when they see pictures they ask more questions and try to remember what she was like.

I will tell you my 9 yr old went through a phase around age 4-6 (totally unrelated to an actual death) were he was totally freaked out by Scooby Doo and the concept of ghosts and death. During this phase we really had to be careful what we said around him. He was worried about when I was going to die, if he was going to die, stuff like that. I not sure what the best way to handle that situation. I simply reassured him that death was a part of life that we have no control over (for the most part). It took him a while to pass through this stage, but he eventually did.

As for religion, I trying to figure out for myself how to handle this one. I am very guilty because neither of my children were baptized. My H is not a believer in any religion. I personally feel a strong connection to God, but have some real issues with some religious practices that seem to create man-made barriers between the individual and God. I'm not really sure what Christian "religion" my beliefs mainly align with. I took my kids to church for a few years but it was not a pleasant experience. What I remember from my childhood about church was mostly negative. I was always being whacked for getting my dress dirty, for not sitting still, or for talking. I don't want to repeat this experience with my children. I'll be watching this thread to see how others are dealing with this issue.