Reply #7: Have you seen "The Root of All Evil"?

[Heidi]

When you laugh at people and roll your eyes, that is both condescending and making fun. Obviously, much of what the religious right believes is pure fiction, but there is absolutely no need to be mean-spirited. That approach only underscores what the religious right believes about us non-believers, and it contributes nothing to enlightenment.

As I've said, I very much like Richard Dawkins and am like-minded with regard to the harm religious extremism can do, but there is no need to be mean-spirited. Further, I find it mean-spirited to beat up the masses or attempt to deny them their opiate when we can't assure them of rational expectations: food, shelter, medical care and any sort of healthy future.

People have all sorts of dependencies to alleviate their suffering. Some people have drugs. Some have money. Some have co-Dependant relationships. Some have alcohol. Some have religion. Until we can do better at meeting people's basic needs, it's cruel to browbeat them about irrational dependencies.

That's all I'm sayin'.