I think you might have a point actually.

Religion remains one of the few (if not the only) areas of life where one thinks twice about saying to a religious person that you think their beliefs are a load of old cobblers. But why should that be, it’s not the case in politics or other walks of life so why should we not say what we think when face-to-face with a religious person.

Perhaps the answer is the great edifice that religions have built around their belief systems over millennia, terrifying the plebs witless with tales of brimstone and fire. They’ve even managed to create a law against criticising them – it’s called blaspheme, and that's seriously not right in any free society.