When I mentioned the potential creation of this thread it to a poster I happened to be arguing with, I didn't expect to end up creating it, but I've decided I see enough of the arugment to warrant its own thread. Even if it has been done before.
I'll put a couple of views on here that are similar to mine for a start:
As for me, I am making this thread as, at least partially, a reuslt from arguing with religious people. It seems to me that whenever I either make a joke about religion such as in the second post of this thread: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.398228-Stupid-things-you-believed-as-a-kid, or when I outright dispute a factual claim they are making, such as the Jews being slaves in Egypt, I recieve undue amounts of protest, saying that I am insulting people by making these jokes and disputing these facts. This is absolutely ridiculous. What I am insulting is the belief, not the people, if they choose to take offense and see themselves as the embodiment of their religion, that is their burden, not mine.
In short, I am sick of walking on eggshells. If you are going to hold beliefs that have no evidence, expect them to be ridiculed, expect no respect towards the belief, most importantly, expect them to be questioned.
Uhh, so yeah. This should be fun, discuss.
(For the record, I picked this poll option: Not really, it is just another viewpoint open to discussion, respect should only factor in to the same extent as one would give an opposing political view.)