I guess I see it different.
Let me try it this way. I have a religion. The name of the religion is not important. My religion is based on the belief that what I do in life and how I behave is what my god will look at when it comes to judgment day. My god knows what is in my heart and what you call a soul. My religion and my god do not require me to give tanks, make sacrifices or to worship it. All it cares about is how I conduct my life. My religion does not believe I have to be saved or that anyone but me is responsible for me but me. We have no written texts, it is just something that we have ‘faith’ in. I know it to be true in my heart just as surely as you know what you believe to be true in yours.
What makes your religion anymore valid than mine? If I were to tell you that your religion is bunk and the only true way to happiness is to believe as I do would you not be insulted? I know every time I hear someone mock my beliefs as silly or stupid it bothers me. When someone tells me I need to be “perfectedâ€, I take that as an insult.
Your belief, my belief as well as everyone else’s is based on faith. By definition know one knows unequivocally that the belief is true. It is faith. Too claim that one is right and the hundreds(?) of other beliefs are wrong is in my opinion arrogant.
My faith does not require me to believe that there is something after this life in order for me to enjoy what ever may (or may not) come after this life. My reward (if there is one) ill be based solely on how I have conducted my self in this life.
As for Iran and the Nuke. No I do not favor it. For that matter I do not favor the US, Russia, China or Israel having one either. As I recall, Kruschev was not a level headed guy and we were not acting the same way with the USSR. As far as I have read, Nikita was just as daffy if not more so than he Iranian dude.
My argument is how do you tell your kid not to smoke when you have a cigarette hanging from your lower lip. Seems a bit disingenuous don’t you think? I don’t like the idea any better than you do (I have relatives in Israel) but do as I say not as I do never worked well for me.