Right off the bat, Ann said:

Quote
The first one is that religion is sometimes used to justify and sanctify truly horrible things like rape and terror.
That's usually the first thing you come up with. Ann, I confess it really bugs me when you seem to blame "religion" for evil. "Religion" is not evil. People are evil. People are also very creative at coming up with justifications for what they want to do, whether those justifications happen to be related to religion, or evolution, or economics, or anything else.

I'm not saying never to criticize -- as you say, saying that all religious beliefs should be respected is really kind of insulting. It says "I should respect your beliefs because they really don't matter", the same way I respect your right to have a favorite ice cream flavor. People's beliefs *do* matter, and should be open to discussion and criticism. I'd just prefer that criticism of a certain belief system not get inflated to include all of "religion."

I have very strong religious beliefs. Does that fact alone make me evil? I don't think you think so, but sometimes I have a hard time not taking hits against "religion" personally.

I haven't read any of the rest of the thread; perhaps when I'm certain I can be civilized, I'll get around to that. Right now I don't trust myself.

PJ

"You told me you weren't like other men," she said, shaking her head at him when the storm of laughter had passed.
He grinned at her - a goofy, Clark Kent kind of a grin. "I have a gift for understatement."
"You can say that again," she told him.
"I have a...."
"Oh, shut up."

--Stardust, Caroline K