Against my better judgment ...

[Augustus]

300. What shameful cowardice

You're committing the logical fallacy of the "false premise" when you make the claim that criticism of religion is ridicule or mockery of the people who practice said religion.

Whether it's through satire or not, the offense that people feel is their own psychological problem. Nobody is mocking anybody - They're just feeling insulted because of their irrational psychosis that was a result of the abuse inflicted on them by their parents when they were children.

And if you're offended by what I just wrote, then you might want to examine your own consciousness.

People get angry. Literally, not figuratively, they work up a genuine furor. And over what? People get angry because someone dares to draw a picture. People get angry because a 2 second flash of a woman's nipple gets exposed at the super bowl. People get angry because gay people dare to demand their rights. People get angry because women dare to choose.

This anger is not rational, this anger is dangerous, and this anger needs to be addressed. And it is the epitome of cowardice on your part to claim that we ought to simply appease this cancerous insanity that is afflicting most of humanity on this planet right now.

Religious belief is what keeps literally millions of women at the status of second class citizens in much of the world right now. Religious belief is what sentences millions of gay people to death in much of the world right now. Religious belief is what motivates millions of young, disenfranchised men to murder thousands of civilians in Nigeria, in Syria, in Iraq, and in much of the world right now. Religious belief is what divides people along tribal lines, is what keeps people from speaking truth to power, is what oppresses and destroys and what keeps the wealthy from losing their grip on power.

And you tell me that criticism is "mockery", and you ask what purpose it serves? How about the advancement of rational thought? How about daring to expose the inmates who are currently running the asylum?