Why atheists should respect believers

[longship]

6. I don't give a fuck what believers believe.

I don't care what other people think.

But I very much care how they act and as an ancillary, but related concern, what they say. That is what defines what evil there is in religion to me.

I am more than offended when the airwaves are filled with charlatans like we see who are obviously after nothing more than to fleece their flock. We know of many of them, some who have faded into ignominious history. Peter Popoff, exposed by James Randi on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. (Yup! He's back. Doing his schtick.) Robert Tilton. Jimmy Bakker. (He's back, too. Hawking bread along with Jesus, of all things.) The Crouch's. (A more despicable pair I couldn't imagine.) Benny Hinn. (Milking his flock for every penny.) Ted Haggard. (I wonder if he's still not gay...)

I measure the believing community by their actions, not their beliefs. What can one say when the only people who seem to want to talk about the outright charlatans are those who do not believe.

Actions and words are important. The extent to which the so-called liberal religionists do not step up on this is the extent to which they may be perceived as part of the problem. I don't want to believe that Sam Harris may be right, that the liberal religious give cover to the conservatives and the outright shysters. But I am beginning to think that they haven't stepped up.

As Jesus might have said, "Isn't time to clean up your own house?"

Then, one can take on the non-believer heathens. Good luck with that.