Religion and Atheism

[Blue Nocturne]

Same, I haven't heard of paganism being called "evil" nowadays, and the term itself isn't used much anymore, which is a good thing- normally it carries a negative connotation. :/

A little off topic, but apparently it's recently become "Sarf Lundin" slang for idiot.

One thing that's always fascinated me is the fact that in most societies today, religious beliefs - above all others - are untouchable. That is, it's impolite or immoral to question or defame one's religious beliefs. If I can question or defame your political beliefs, why can't I do the same to your religious ones? What is this 'line' that I'd be crossing?

If a belief involves something magical or transcendent, does that belief become anymore sacred or valuable? The answer to this seems to be 'yes', but why?

I completely agree. I hate people who compare insulting religious belief to things like racism because the bottom line is that a religious belief is exactly what it says: A belief. Racism is based on something that cannot be controlled by the victim (and something that is not a huge issue anyway), which is wrong.

Religion is a choice, and to a degree defines someone's personality, just like a political stance. Why it gets priority, I don't know. I'd like to bring up the Russells Teapot argument, but I'm sure it's already been mentioned.

What annoys me even more is the double-standard that some religious people employ. That being its fine for them to insult and degrade others beliefs, but the second something is said about their own, HOW DARE YOU! This annoys me less because of the sheer hypocrisy but more because double standards like that is where bigotry and intolerance begin.