This is something I posted somewhere in response to why I get tired of religions (not any in particular), in relation to some of them being too prevalent and teaching against science.

As someone who has never believed in religions nor struggled with not believing, my biggest gripe with religions are that people too often inflict them on the rest of society. I have many beliefs, but I don’t use those beliefs to get tax free status, setup schools, have forced national holidays, set rules about working days, etc. I also don’t use my beliefs to pass judgements on others, try to get laws changed that restrict others, or make them feel less of a person because they do not share the same beliefs.

Here is an example. I really love wine and believe strongly in its attributes physically, emotionally and spiritually. I would like to be able to buy wine tax free, setup schools that teach about it’s merits, have at least 2 paid holidays a year to celebrate it, and insist that I cannot work on Monday’s because I need to rest after drinking it. I don’t try to tell people who believe that milk is a better drink that I am superior or that they are going to burn in eternity because they do not drink wine. I also don’t try to change laws that require people to drink wine or portend that my wine choices are better than others.

I tend to favour dry wines, but I do not start wars against people who like their wine sweet, or those who don’t drink wine at all. I also don’t tell complete strangers “chardonay blesses you”, quote scriptures from wine encyclopedia’s or bombard them with beaujolais nouveau and other celebratory wine when it is in season, though I do think “merry beaujolais” has a nice ring to it. I also don’t expect children to go to wine tastings while teaching them that any other drink is not good, or for that matter, a totally unrelated topic like science is not accurate!