Anonymous
@james-mitchner, thanks for the thoughtful and civil post.
I cannot speak for anyone other than myself, but a true atheist will not take your religion away unless you try to impose it on them. I think so because a true atheist comes to his belief on his own path, not just joining the last trend. The one trying to remove religion from life are people who do not believe in god but who belong to some other sort of godless religion.
You might disagree with my interpretation but I believe that a religion is normally the belief in the teaching of some man. Traditionally it has been some godly inspired man but, since the godly inspiration can be a matter of dispute, I just say man. Based on that, I think that a devote Christian is not different from a devote Marxist in how they believe. They differ in what they believe. From the point of view of someone who is neither, I see no difference between the leftist trying to stop me from getting into a store they don’t like vs the Christian shouting in my face to accept Jesus Christ or burn in hell for eternity. Yes, both happened.
Superficiality in accepting a religion or philosophy is common to “new age” beliefs as it is in more traditional ones. Is there really any difference between someone getting into some cult because a celebrity did so, or someone who call himself a Christian just because he follows what a good looking millionaire pastor says? Or between a young person who become a leftist to fit in or the person who goes to church because he is expected to do so in the community he lives in? Superficiality is the disease of the century. It manifests in everyday life in many forms. People read a book about a subject and believe it tells all there is to know about it. People read newspaper and believe everything in it just because it’s their newspaper. Same said for politicians, self-named experts, or celebrity of sort.
I think everyone has to find his way in life following his own path. If your path is the Bible, fine, if for someone else it’s feeling the vibe of planet Earths, fine as well. The point is not the path taken but where that path lead us. If that’s a person who respects others, is open to other’s thoughts and ideas, and positively contribute to society we can all live peacefully together.