So what kind of environment do you think religious parents should create for their children? Are you saying that they shouldn't pray with their children, teach them about their faith, take them to church, etc. until they're capable of coming to a conclusion on their own?
No, I wouldn't say that. Parents naturally share their values with their children, and in fact you can't help that in relationships, nor is that a bad thing either.
For one, we should be clear that there is no "vacuum" where someone is making a choice that has been unaffected by bias. We're all primed by our parents and by the larger culture with certain options and not others; our choices are never 100% our own.
Moving on, it's best to provide as much freedom to choose as possible (appropriate to age), which means providing information. What disturbs me about some environments is that the children are given some information but not all of it, because the parents believe so strongly in their view that they can't acknowledge other views, feel threatened by other views, etc. I think the parents' job is to provide a child with a sense of reality in terms of cause and effect. IOW, "you can choose this / do this, but if you do, <here> is the typical outcome. So here is what you are choosing."
Of course, in some lifeview or religious circles, the parents might still provide inaccurate assessments, so this has to be coupled with freedom of information. As a child gets older and asks more questions, they need to feel like they can explore these issues and be able to come back to the parent with their findings, and discuss it. This helps eradicate parental bias, because if the parent provides information that doesn't seem to gel with what the child is discovering, then the trust in the parent erodes... and no parents wants to be untrusted by their child.
None of this will happen perfectly. The parent will either err on the side of providing not enough guidance or too much control over the child's options. But hopefully if the child trusts the parent while being given access to information, and can dialogue with the parent, then the two can negotiate. And those negotiations over life experiences also help create familiarity, trust, and relationship.
In the example you offer, basically sure, take your child to church. But make sure that you talk to them about what you believe and why, and make it clear what kinds of choices are involved. As your child gets older and more capable of weighing information and making their own choices, you can give them more flexibility. At some point, the child should be able to choose whether or not to attend various church functions, although this will probably differ from parent to parent and child to child. You have to equip your child to be adaptable, resilient, and honest as they enter adulthood; you will not be there forever, and this means autonomy is necessary, even if that autonomy leads the child in a different direction than where you went yourself.
