That being said, however, do you think parents should have the "right" to deny their children medical care when the children are ill, just because of their own religious beliefs? Should parents have the "right" to brutally beat their children because the Bible tells them not to spare the rod? Do you not agree that there are certain limits society, and the law, MUST place on parents when dealing with the health and welfare of their children?
Quote Originally Posted by denuseri View Post
Last time I checked we have laws in place allready that cover all that.
Yes, we do. And why do we have those laws? To prevent the abuse of the children. But isn't telling a child that she will go to hell and burn for eternity if she touches herself also abuse? Isn't it abuse to tell a child that God will throw him into a pit of burning brimstone to be tortured by demons abuse? Should there not be laws to protect against that kind of abuse as well?

But where does one draw the line between, "If I have sex outside of marriage I'll be sent to Hell," and "If I break a mirror I'll have seven years bad luck." Each of these statements have their believers. Neither are provable.
You dont have to draw any line save for yourself and leave the lines other wish to draw for themselves.
I would love to, but it's the theists who want to make premarital sex illegal, not me.

Becuase one is a commonly acepted fairytale, where as the other is someone's belief system and as such is deserving of the same mutual respect you claim atheism deserves.
So if children believe it it's a fairy tale, but if adults believe it it's a religion? Sorry, I don't buy it. If you compare them they sound pretty much alike.

in paticular the new testament has Jesus make a little statement about such things that pretty much excludes all the old testament hard core laws that are by all rights no longer applicable even to the most fundamentalist of followers,
Sorry, but that's not true.

Matthew 5:17-20 - "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."