Reply #21: It's not about believing there is only one way but

[ihavenobias]

It *is* about believing in things that are *rational and logical*.

And yes, I think that's an incredibly fair distinction to make. Ultimately it's true, if people want to embrace what atheists and agnostics consider to be fantasy and it gives them hope and joy and makes them better people, great.

The problem is when they try to influence laws on abortion, marriage, stem cell research, contraception, HPV vaccination and so on.

The other problem is making people feel ashamed and guilty over nonsense (sex before marriage, masturbation, etc.), or creating and following other rather arbitrary and random rules about how to live life. Not killing, lying, stealing and cheating make perfect sense, with or without a bible. However the same cannot be said about wanting to ban gay marriage, avoiding shell fish or burning in a horrible pit of fire for eternity for not falling in line.

I think the pounding the head against the wall is frustration over the idea that so many people could be duped into believing in things that seem to be nonsensical by any logical measure. And yes, I realize the response might be "these things go beyond logic and reason and shouldn't be judged on those terms" but that kind of proves the point.

In short, religion can result in a lot of wonderful things but it can also result in a lot of horrible (or at least irrational and questionable) things. People can debate about the percentages either way (not that it's that easy to quantify), but it's foolish to pretend that there is no good (and more importantly for the masses, no bad) that can come of it.