Re: Immaculate conception

On May 14, 8:16=A0am, Darren Delgado <darrendelg...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> I can't speak for anyone else in the thread, but I don't consider
> myself "tolerant" of religion. =A0Religious people are rarely tolerant
> of non-religious people so why not return the favor.

That is a generalization, even a stereotype. You probably pass by
hundreds of religious people a day without even knowing it, and that's
the way it really is supposed to be in Christianity. Jesus did say not
to let one hand know what the other is doing. The people who make
grandstanding displays of religious authority are in the wrong,
especially when they eventually get caught in their own hypocrisy. But
to let that vocal fraction decide that that's what the rest of the
believers believe is ludicrous.

> I mean, in a sense I am tolerant -- if it is confined to people's
> personal space, I don't care what they do. =A0But unfortunately, a lot
> of the crazy stuff in the bible is the basis for a lot of our laws and
> governmental policy and shapes our society, so it affects me. =A0So that
> means that I get to point out that a story about a magical baby
> implanted in a lady by God is cuckoo.

Rationalization for intolerance is not a form of tolerance. To protect
people from religious bigotry is one thing, to use the chance to throw
insults at religion is another. In that regard, you may be throwing
insults at the beliefs of the people you claim to be protecting.