Reply #54: You're entitled to your opinions

[wryter2000]

But you're not entitled to impose them on others any more than they're entitled to impose theirs on you. Or at the very least, you could treat them with courtesy.

Now, I'm not saying you have to respect silly claims about God creating the species or Jesus returning from the dead or Rapture or prayer healing or anything that violates the laws of science. Reasonable people of faith (and there are many, many of them) moved beyond that sort of thing ages ago. To paraphrase someone from the Episcopal church, "The tsunami was caused by plate tectonics. The spirit of God can be seen in the reaction of people who want to help."

I don't know if there's a God or not. If there is, He/She/It would "exist" outside the physical realm. But I'm not arrogant enough to claim to know everything about everything, so I treat intelligent people of faith with respect.

Falwell, Osama, and their ilk get the back of my hand (figuratively speaking).