I do not think that is a good attitude.Some of the most brilliant individuals have believed in a God

Yes I’ve found I myself have the same issues . I Kant even meat ten halfway because there stances are just so unreasonable. I find it’s vest I just avoid all together discussions with the religious about religion

I counter any talk about their beliefs with mine. They owe me the same respect I give them.

I worry at work because part of the job is to teach critical thinking skills.

As I see it we have no logical choice but to respect everyone, not because we are trying to be good, but because everyone is worthy of respect. It is respect as in taking a second look and recognizing the miracle of life and mystery of conscious awareness. We love and respect children, and they are prone to believing all kinds of silly things. If the person is a threat, steps might be needed, but that is another issue.

The concept of God that you describe is by no means universal, even among fundamentalists. I think that almost all religious people think of God as being outside the realm of space, time, and matter.

Just think he just wanted all of those just killed to be with him now so that is why he subjected them to a horrible death.

Well it is disappointing when you hope to have more in common with someone but let me put it into another realm.

My wife is looking to make more friends and she is realizing that she can't let certain "turn offs" get in the way of that as she'd rather be happy than right.

She met a woman who shares her profession, is good at it, and is also looking for friendship.

It didn't take long however to see her new friend's warts. She's not a good active listener, and so despite having lunch at which they introduced each other, and discussed in general terms their children and families, this woman keeps mis-remembering my wife's FIRST name and whether she has any children. And then at a dinner they went to with others, this woman asked super embarrassingly ignorant questions of an Indian national at the dinner, that reflect not only ignorance but incuriosity and a sort of ugly Americanism. An odd trait in a writer.

So my wife is determined to see the humanity in this woman even though there are some really annoying turn offs in the mix. And isn't that how it works with relationships? You have to accept people as / where they are or you don't have many friends.

Yes people can be boogers but so can you and I. In reality if my wife has to correct this woman 3 or 4 times until she gets my wife's name right then problem solved -- isn't that better than taking it personally that she misremembers and calls her Kathy rather than Becky? I mean it's 2 syllables ending in an "ee" sound so that's better than nothing. It's all in how you look at it and what you're willing to sacrifice for your vaunted principles like "don't fuck up my name".

I don't have to respect the beliefs of a crazy person to accept them as a human being and I try not to go around poking the weirdos with a stick. If they try to force their madness upon me then that is another story all together and I will resist with all my strength because those people can be very dangerous indeed, just look at their history.

So long as they keep their beliefs out of the halls of my government and out of the public schools, I have no problem with them.

A lot of people believe some really bizzare unfounded bullshit. It’s not just limited to religion. If they try to force that crap on me, even after I’ve said I’m not interested, I just choose not to interact with them any more.

We don't have to respect them - we just have to be civil to them, and ignore their opinions when we are not in a position to dispute them.