whats the problem with having a diffrent religion. people exclude and make fun of people of a diffrent religion. it is not our buisness what other people belive. so we should stop discriminating and just ecsept.

Typically when people make fun of anything, it is because of insecurity and discomfort with the unknown.  I think it is important for us all to seek knowledge of various religion and gain a respect for their similarities.

I also tend to look at the definition of religion as a practice - it should not be confused with faith.  For example, many people believe Catholics are not Christian.  Catholicism is one way of practicing and expressing a Christian faith.

If you are finding a lot of people making fun of your religion, the greatest weapon is knowledge. Seek to understand their religion and to open communications on the similarities and differences.  Or, simply state, “My faith and practices are a private matter and I would appreciate it if you respect that.”

I’ve found that, from a certain perspective, religion philosophy and science are all trying to explain the same things different way. One of the difficult aspects to religion, however, is that there is generally some requirement of “faith” which requires that you believe certain principles without requirement for proof as they are proposed to be fundamental truths or beyond comprehension. The problem “faith” occasionally inspires shows itself when people with different perspectives on the same problem approach the situation with “My faith is right so yours must be wrong.” An attitude like this stifles the birth and growth of ideas and collaboration because people will refuse to see good points and even similarities expressed by someone who, from their perspective, believes their faith to be incorrect. Rather than taking the discussion as an intellectual challenge that can be learned from, it often goes the route of a battle that must have a victor. Sometimes the best way to disarm somebody that is adamant about their religion is to ask what they believe and learn what and why from them, rather than telling them what you believe right off the bat. If you do this, often times you can say something like “Wow, that’s interesting, I can see where you’re coming from, but I look at it a different way, see to me [...]” which is typically at least an easier way to inspire real discussion, though sometimes a effort made in vain. I’ve studied and practiced a lot of religions in the past, from Methodist and non-denominational “born-again” Christianity, to Wicca, all the way to Buddhism and I’ve learned a lot, and even seen real demonstration of value from each. Ultimately, if we were to use a depiction of a sphere to represent “reality” or “existence” then I would say, much like the seasons of earth around the sun, we’re all looking at the same sphere, but we each see a different slice, 80% of what we see might be the same, but we let the 20% that’s different divide us. As such, I prefer to call myself agnostic and search for my own truth, but I love to hear what others believe and why they do and I’m always happy to explain my views as well.

I think that this also plays a big part on politics (at least in the US), as I see a lot of time wasted on legislation and voting policies that are based on opinion (or unscientific religious beliefs) that are unreasonable to force on others in a nation of freedom. This video of Obama during a keynote address to a religious body (Christian), regardless of your political views or affiliation, and regardless of who you’re voting for or why (I didn’t vote Obama in the primaries or Clinton or McCain, and this video is from 2006), the points he expresses in this video are well put and should be understood by all Americans. That said, the best we can do to close the chasm between religions is to do our best to show that, even with a difference of opinion, we can all be good people and can care about what and why other people believe the things they do. Using these methods, with any luck, we can not only close the gap and understand each other better, but maybe even evolve our ideas realizing new truth, but also improve the effectiveness of our voting populace by investing our efforts on things that truly benefit everybody and keeping our officials in check, rather than letting lies, corruption and torture flourish while wasting time on common courtesy laws that the consumer can make their own choices on.