Religious Freedom And Religious Fervor

Noticed this interesting post by Jonathan Delacour on religion, after writing my "How To Pray" post below. He covers a lot of ground and it's good reading on a Sunday afternoon.

When I was 14 or 15 I incurred my father’s disapproval by suggesting at the dinner table that one religion was as good as another, that the only important issue was whether or not one behaved honorably. A few years later I might have added that, since the religions of the book appear to exacerbate and alleviate human suffering in roughly equal proportions, the best idea might be to have no religions at all. But since that is unrealistic, the Japanese solution—of believing in multiple gods and allowing Buddhism and Shinto to peacefully coexist—is a fine alternative, particularly since it also subtly underscores the arbitrary nature of religious belief.

Robert Scoble, probably the best known blogger resident at Microsoft, for those who don't know him, takes Rob, a young man who wants to put religion back into the schools, to task about his views on religion and the need to force ones God on everyone else. Very interesting post as well.

19-year-old Rob advocates putting religion back into schools, and other public displays.

He says it's war on Christmas and Christians.

There are few ideas more repugnant in today's society than this one.

First, there is a geek angle to this. The reason I'm sitting in the midst of the most powerful conglomeration of geeks anywhere in the world is because of this issue. It is no accident that my wife's family moved halfway around the world to here. They are geeks. Their country was run by religious leaders like Rob who thought that religious and political systems should be one and the same.