I recently watched a video message by
Pat Condell who brought up a point about religion I never thought of before--how much it must bother religious people who toil very hard to be obedient observers of their faith to see someone like myself completely free of such burdens. I'm not required to attend mass or give part of my (now non-existent) income to the church, I have no need to pray, I don't restrain from doing what I believe to be correct just because it doesn't agree with some religious doctrine (like those who would like to standing up for gay rights but won't because they think it's against god) and I never refrain from taking precautions from danger just because doing so might be a sin (such as getting a blood transfusion). When viewing other religious groups, one might say their efforts praying to Hindu gods is in vain or their rain dances are fruitless efforts, but there's that comfort that those people are also putting effort toward what they believe. Atheists, on the other hand, put forth no effort for faith-based belief and maybe that's like a slap in the face for those who do. It would be like planning for a horrible hurricane while living in Montana--except rather then having a strongly secured roof, easy to board up windows, a generator and stored water, you just have some tax write offs, some knowledge of 2,000 year-old lifestyles and maybe an idea of who makes the best dish at a potluck.
This is a picture I took to demonstrate the principal of size and scale.
