sympathy for the devil

Religion is to be respected

Because it gets people thinking. It's part of people, and that's different than obedience. It's like politics where people claim GW completely failed and is why Obama was elected. That's not true. Even at first, during GWs 1st or 2nd term I noticed that. I voted for GW the first tine as I've voted for Obama the 1st time. I've an app called iAmerica that lists GWs accomplishments and they're as numerous as any other. Atheism is to be respected too. The other side of the same coin. Christians preach that heaven wept when Lucifer fell. They truly missed the guy. Atheists are here because according to Christianity at least, they were the faithful that didn't follow Lucifer and were rewarded with a chance at this life. So an Atheist was/is one of God's chosen elite, the most faithful. Atheists may be non-believers in their words but Christians who persecute them are the true Atheists or even apostates through their actions. Even the Honeymooner's "to the moon Alice!" is nothing compared to putting a spouse in the ICU etc. Apply that to everything else and top church leaders and politicians are anti-Christs and hypocrites when Christ favored the underdog for being too honest, straightforward, and a bit naive or victims of circumstance. Be ye perfect simply means be human. Perfection to God(s) would have to be just a saying like "that's just perfect!" Anyone capable of creating a universe knows that entropy means you don't stay static, you adapt or change, especially if you're "imperfect" or physically weak compared to a God. I figured that out so what does God know? I'm nothing on the evolutionary scale compared to someone that can create a universe as far as that capability but Gods know better than to place that above happiness and dignity and cherishing and respecting life. God must think, if it's just me, it's an awful waste of space. I'm not so special, I just innately went against the grain which enabled me to contradict most authority, if not all, merely by questioning and evaluating not it's right to govern but it's reasoning behind it's methodology. Even kings and armies have a right to live would be a bad description. That's exactly why they came to be. It's like the quote from Lost World by the hunter quoting the mountain climber. "I didn't go up/out there to die. I did it to live." Mountain climbers and hunters definitely die in their pursuits, but they die living, not living dead. I may be a grumpy rude little ass but I did this for not just me. It'd be like drinking alone or marrying Rosey Palm.

Among Mormons I was able to learn this, in spite of the worst ones singling me out. They're not all even remotely that creepy and the worst ones can't win if you don't give up. At least not every time.