Mustard wrote:
This is the bit I struggle with. We don't respect such points of view unless they're labelled "religious". If someone insisted the world was flat in the face of all evidence to the contrary, I don't think it'd turn many heads if I labelled them an idiot. Whereas it isn't considered acceptable to label someone an idiot for believing that JC rose again on the 3rd day etc.
I can only answer this in simple terms, neither of us would go into a church or cathedral and scrawl graffiti (even Banksy would n't) on the wall or knock bits of stone out to take home as a souvenir, we respect the edifice though not the religion that it is dedicated too. Which might seem a little off topic, but given the notion of some places as being somehow "sacred" or belonging to a specific group of people, it does seem kind of relevant.
Rhiannon has covered the subject about respect, it is the social pact we make with the people around us to behave in a courteous fashion. That which is wrong in religion, and there is so much of course, we can speak out against.
I actually decided that there was no such thing as a god, at about 6 or 7 in Sunday school, that old man with a beard was just a fairytale, never changed my mind since.....