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Normally I might not write something like I am about to because its off the top of my head and not supported by anything I can immediately footnote or refer to. That being said, what follows is an opinion based on my professional history as a social worker and reporter who has read and studied all the major religious works of the world.

1) I am a skeptical deist, yes this is a bit of an oxymoron but everyone has some opposing beliefs. Also I tend to agree with the philosophical ideas of Jesus Christ and The Buddha stripped of their more supernatural structure. And I believe that zealotry in any form is a bad thing.

2) I hope that when someone is refuting an article they have read they will be more literate and use appropriate language rather than ranting. I have observed that most people who verbally attack non-believers seem to be less literate and rational, thus don't fall to their emotional level when responding.

3) Currently working for a community newspaper I edit two columns regularly that are written by local pastors. Within their columns one can observe the gradual scale of fundamentalist thinking that exists across the religious community. One of these pastors is more liberal and doesn't seem to take everything in through filter that rejects all other ideas. The other is far more to the extreme, taking all biblical passages quite literally and not making in room in his mind for any other opposing thoughts.

I mention all three of these things because they lead into the opinions I am trying to convey. I think that the greatest danger to personal freedom in the world today is not the greedy tyrant who is using the "Because I can!" or military, or national security to justify their tyranny but one who uses religion and their people's faith to surpress individual rights. We see this in many of the mideastern countries and the near east (Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia.) Now not all countries I listed are completely totalitarian nor are they theocracies but they are close. Yes statistically people are freer in more countries today then ever before but that doesn't change the treat. One of the things that I also observed in my time as a counselor was that in times of change that is rapid and unsettling people tend to hold on tighter to the belief system that has worked in the past regardless of how non-functioning, irrational, patronizing, or destructive that system maybe. I think that is why religion, especially the very fundamentalist and charismatic continue to maintain a hold on humans. Life, no matter how well lived or disciplined, is unstable and chaotic we make bad choices and decisions and are somewhat fragile against the power of nature.

My second opinion is that most religion takes away from the glory of being human. This in fact is probably my biggest personal dispute with religion, not scientific unprovability. Using the community I live in as an example, I will try and show what I mean. Here in Colorado there are a growing number of nondenominational storefront christian churches, the second pastor I mentioned above leads one of these. All of them are charismatic, evangelical and fundamentalist. Now what I have seen when attending was uncomfortable for me. They praise Jesus constantly, declare that the Satan is in every corner, and quote repeatedly from Paul's letters. Now this is taking from the glory of being human, as well as being contradictory to stated beliefs but I'll cover that, by denying human involvement in their own actions. Jesus or God is responsible for everything good and Satan is responsible for everything bad. Sick? Well get thee out Satan! Achieve something? Well thank you Jesus! I don't like to think that everything I do is controlled by some other force. It seems that no matter how great the result was Michangelo, Monet, Thoreau, Churchill, Ghandi had nothing to do with the achievement it was God who gave the talent and Jesus who allowed them to use it ( yes I have heard christians refer to Ghandi this way.) The opposite is also held to the actions of, Genghis Kahn; Hitler, Edward Fish, Ted Bundy or Mao De Zong the devil made them do it. For instance look at the christian cult around David Berkowitz, Son of Sam, and his being born again or Carla Faye Tucker's defenders. I believe in human redemption like Malcolm X, actions not words. I have great trouble in the out these christians have created where belief not action his the only redemption. And any belief system that rejects that humans can do great works is, well tragic. I mentioned contradiction in the previous paragraph. Not to belabor the point, others so often do, but I never have seen this idea mentioned anywhere. 1) Why do these type of christians refer so much more often to the words of Paul rather than from the four gospels. And isn't the deification of the bible breaking the first commandment? or the images of Jesus everywhere breaking the third? just a thought. I may have written nothing but a rambling rant but your submission request awoke my muse.