As a long-time atheist, I'm often asked if I "respect" religion.

[MineralMan]

55. That depends. I try very hard not to judge people or determine

a level of respect from a small sample of behavior. I do not assume that a particular behavior, observed briefly or without sufficient context, represents that person as a whole.

In most cases, where casual observance of behavior is isolated, I won't actually need to decide whether or not to respect someone, since the chances are I will not interact much with that person.

So, if I observe mockery, say, on DU, I probably won't form an opinion of that person at all. In fact, I rarely pay much attention to the screen names of people who post here. Only if I encounter the same person frequently will I even try to determine whether that person is someone I respect or not.

Often, a first impression does not give a clear picture of a person.

I'm not sure where you're going with this, but that's the best I can offer at this point.