Can no one stop this???

[Thorne]

In the US the fight is to try to remove any inkling of the existence of christianity. But christians seek not inclusion in civil law of anyu of the requirements of the religion.

This is rather ingenuous, don't you think? The fight is not to expunge Christianity, but to separate it from the government and education systems. While it's true that many Christians are moderate and tolerant, some of the more fundamentalist sects are desperately trying to establish some form of theocratic system. In Texas the school board is attempting to reinterpret history in a more "conservative" tone and attempting to force creationism into science classes, to teach "the controversy". Throughout the US these fundies are rambling on about the Christian values of the founding fathers, when in fact those founding fathers, while deists in most cases, where frequently anti-Christian and almost universally against any form of state sponsored religion. And there is no controversy over origins. The Bible is a fiction. Evolution is a proven fact, something which can be studied and cataloged, proven beyond reasonable doubt. (The mechanisms of evolution are still being debated, yes, but not the fact.)

But more in keeping with the topic of this thread, these same fundamentalists are forcing religious interpretations on so many aspects of our lives that it's impossible to get around them. They want, for example, to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, because that's how they view it, and that's how they claim their Bible views it. And because the idea of two men, or two women, having sexual relations is disgusting to them. Yet in truth, marriage is more of an economic issue than a sexual one. It is quite possible to have a secure, happy household without any sexual activity at all. The fundies can't see that, though. And their own Bible (Old Testament) actually does endorse polygamy, though only between a single man and many wives. I think the idea of a single woman wanting to marry more than one man would make their heads explode.

But they want to control all aspects of family life, from raising children to having sexual relations, all within their own warped framework of reality. And any who would violate their reality must be punished according to their idea of "justice".

There's a reason why they are beginning to be referred to as, "The American Taliban".

As I have said before, there are very few differences among the major religions of the world in their basic tenents. The language I use tends to be the one most familiar to me.

I have the same problem. I grew up in a Catholic household. I'm far more familiar with that culture than with, say, Buddhism or Islam. That also makes me more aware of the abuses which Catholics, and Christians in general, try to get away with.