These are my thoughts.

Religion, to my mind, should be a source of Comfort, strength, belonging and an instant source of Community should you ever find yourself Uprooted and moved somewhere. It should give you Courage, security, and good Lessons in the face of everyday life, adversity, birth and Death.

I Respect people who take these qualities of Religion and make it their own. I've had and have Friends, bosses, coworkers of all types and sects. It makes me Happy :) to count them as people I have mutual respect, admiration and Like for.

I Do not think religion should be used as a tool to Excuse violence against children, other Sects, religion or races, Oppress women, stamp on diversity, brush Abe^rrant behaviour under the carpet, Condemn everyone else on the face of the planet, Expect that miracles alone will save a dying child or Crush someone's spirit until they're Sui_cidal. It's the way people can wield it like a Knife, axe, gun or bomb in Ireland, in the Middle East, and sometimes in our very own Cities and countrysides that I'm sure was part of the inspiration behind John Lennon's song, "Imagine".

My Own belief system, as it were, can best be Described as secular humanistic.  I don't believe in the Supernatural, I do believe that humans are ultimately Responsible for the World, society, how we treat one Another.

I came by this Honestly.  When I was Young, I attended Baptist Sunday School - my family wasn't Baptist (they felt at home in Methodist or Presbyterian services), but the location was Convenient.  I wish I could Remember this properly, but I apparently saw Problems with what they were Saying.  From the precocious 7-8-year-old phase Onwards, the questioning has never Stopped.

I learned, and Continue to learn, the History of religions.

The Question: "What if I was born in a different country to different parents; would I still have the same religion?" - I find it Revealing.

As a layman Linguist, I understand some of the Translation issues, and am Intrigued about some of the still-Outstanding ones.  For example, the Question of translating nephesh in the Old Testament and whether it represents Body (it can bleed and be killed) or Soul (it's typically translated as soul or similar wordage in English translations) is still a hot topic.  Did you Know about it?  What did you Think?

The more I learn, especially about Context, the more of a Humanist I become.

Please bear in mind that I'm not attacking Religion or its Practitioners in any sense.  My "Fight", if you can even call it that, is against that Special blend of Ignorance and the desire to Control that can affect anybody, religious or Not.  Remember that the terrible "Cultural Revolution" of China was a non-to-anti-religious Revolution.

I ask but 3Three things:

• Think
• Don't you dare remove the opportunity for someone else to think
• Don't misrepresent knowledge
  

To that third item, I must Decry the Conniving attempts to push Religion under the Guise of Science into Classrooms in some locales.  You know who you are.

There are Morals apart from religion.  We - well, most of us - abhor Slavery, yet it is Condemned in precious few holy writs, and Sanctioned in more than a few.  Where do we get our Anti-slavery moral Imperative? Why is it so Powerful that it makes us G l o s s over certain written Passages?

I daresay that in this particular case, it's Empathy.  I wouldn't want to be a Slave.  I wouldn't want any of my friends to be Slaves either.  Or You, reading this right Now.

The profundities of life: Marriage, Birth, Graduation, new Friends, new Experiences, and the ultimate End of life are not the Sole province of Religion. Neither are Promises,Trust or Family.

In all this Discussion, too, remember that I am a Reasonable sort.  I've come to my Position through Learning and Observation.  If Adonai/Jehovah/God or Vishnu or Buddha came to me in person tomorrow, I'm Not about to ((clap)) my hands over my eyes and sit around Chanting, "You don't exist, you don't exist... la la la la la".

So how do you feel after all this?

Respectful but you don't agree?  Great.

Respectful and you agree somewhat?  That's great, too.

Angry?  Disgusted?  Not so good.  I must wonder... why?

Not sure about all this?  Questions of your own?  Going to run something you just thought of by your friends?  That's superb - don't let them brush off your questions.  Your answers won't likely end up the same as mine, but by gum, you'll be a better person for it.

...

I Mean what I Say about Respecting people.

If you've got some Food for Thought, please Share.  My Mind is always Hungry :)