Religion is a crutch that debilitates people and keeps them weak. I think it’s wonderful that you can be empathetic. I agree with you that for some cases, I try to understand that they are lost in their faith and unable to fathom a life without their god. I find I’m only really tolerant of religious folk that actually walk the walk though. Like my husband’s aunt.

For her mother, and the rest of the hypocritical fundie christian masses, though, I’m not so tolerant or understanding. Some of the people I have to deal with are the kind of christian fundamentalist hypocrites that I simply despise. They spread intolerance, hate, bigotry, and all other kinds of nastiness. Completely unacceptable.

If all christians were like my husband’s aunt, I wouldn’t have this website. They’d do their thing, I’d do mine, and that would be that. It’s the other kind that I feel I have to go up against, battling their lies and misinformation with facts, truth, science, logic and common sense.

My boyfriend and I were talking one time about why he was not religious. And he said that he was a strong enough person that he didn’t need a religion as a crutch to get him though the day. And it stuck a cord with me. I looked back at my family and I could truly see how religion was a crutch that helped us get though the day. Now that I am free from religion I actually look at deeply religious folk and feel sorry for them, because I recognize they are simply not able to be strong enough to face a life based on logic and fact.

Now I try to empathize with their position in life. And often I find myself thinking of Christians more like children who simply have not learned yet the truth about life. I guess my long winded point is when I try to empathize and look at them in this light it makes it harder to want to argue with them. There is one exception for me on this point. I will not allow my friends or family use religion to spread hate and bigotry. That is my line personally that I will not allow them to cross.