God is either impotent or evil.

[hunter]

27. If you are going to live forever in heaven you've got to have something to talk about.

A dramatic death with lots of suffering is a pretty good topic.

Nobody in heaven wants to hear your story about how you had a perfectly happy life and a pleasant painless death surrounded by family.

Best fucking thing that ever happened to humanity was when Eve ate that apple and God kicked the humans out of His garden. ( It wasn't just Adam and Eve, however. That would be creepy. )

Sigh.

My point is not to mock religion but those who would interpret religious texts literally as a justification for oppressing others and destroying what's left of the natural world as we know it.

I don't respect religious people who worship cruel and capricious gods and behave accordingly. I don't respect religious anti-intellectualism. I can respect anyone who is kind and get's along well with their neighbors regardless of anyone's religious beliefs or lack of them.

Some religions, especially as practiced by certain communities, really are toxic. I don't think they should automatically be respected or even tolerated. I don't have any trouble telling people that the god they worship is an asshole. But it doesn't make any sense to say "God is either impotent or evil" if you don't believe any god exists. You can't have it both ways. There's no point in being an atheist if you still carry the baggage of the god you reject.