The author details a few reasons why children should be included in "adult" church services from time to time. The first reason the author gives is that children are part of the body of Christ, just like adults. They then go on to say that during the Feast of the Tabernacles all of Israel would come together to hear the law of the Lord, and children would be made to attend so that they would learn to "fear the Lord."
So children whose minds are malleable and generally a bit more easily influenced should be taught to respect and fear a deity who will send them to hell otherwise? That doesn't sound manipulative at all.
I take issue in particular with the last "reason" given in the article as well: "Children who don’t feel like a part of the church community will leave church when they’re older." The gist of the explanation is that the child will be used to games and candy and when the "culture shock" of adult church services hits, that child will want to leave because it's "not as fun."
I would argue that another factor in the child leaving church (which I obviously have no problem with) might be the fact that in "adult" church, the scripture isn't watered down. In children's church, stories are warped to make them more palatable to children (ever watched Veggietales?)
The thing is, once one really starts reading the Bible, they start to see that maybe they should be questioning the authorities who are pushing the information it contains as "fact." But if churches can sneak in the information and desensitize children to it early on, it's more likely that the child will stay in church and accept that information as truth without question.
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