littlebuddy wrote: Get rid of religion and its influence on nations and people and in a generation or two you would have total chaos as every person would do what they wanted, when they wanted, how they wanted.

maxx: This is an old tired argument. Is there a nation that doesn't have laws to keep criminal behavior in check ? It's ludicrous to assume that people would just run amok without some religion to reward them for decent behavior.Do you think a theocracy could function without laws and prisons? Should justice be left to someone's god?
And when people talk about intolerance, let's not forget the lie perpetuated by religionists that atheists cannot be moral or have a lower form of morality because the religionists' morality came from some invisible super-person whose existence they cannot directly prove. My biggest objection to most religions is their miseducation of their flocks, their utter lack of respect for secular learning. I think Charlie Pierce in his book "Idiot America" quoted a minister in Dover, PA., shortly before the ID trial there who said something like "We are being attacked by the intelligent and educated." When intelligence and education are seen as bad, we are in trouble as a nation.

Zacha wrote: And the intolerance seen in today's society on several fronts, not just from some Christians.

maxx: Any "intolerance" xtians may be experiencing they brought on themselves with their incessant pushing for prayers in school, prayers before sports games, ID in science classes, and their distribution of misinformation on many issues icluding their rewriting of history.