Xia, I am not here to defend Christianity or religion, I am simply trying to make a point....
You criticize religion as if it is inherently the problem...
Let me use your most recent example:
"It's not okay for those with that belief system to enforce those beliefs on others."
How is this different than the government? We have laws banning public nudity because, well, most people just don't like it very much so we enforce it on everyone regardless of their beliefs...
Of course that's quite trivial to laws banning communist party members from holding public office or military policy that (until recently) prevented woman from joining as infantry or bans on abortion in the 1st trimester...
Well those issues concern things that maybe you could argue are influenced by religion...that's clearly not the case though for public smoking bans or bans (in NYC) of large quantities of soda...
Each criticism you have of religion is something that any human organization is capable of...
Of course religion has done lots of evil...so have governments, businesses, and other organizations...
What has religion done that's good? Islam (under the caliphates) was a major influence in preserving and pursuing scientific knowledge...religious scholars meticulously translated ancient Greek and Roman works, some of which we would otherwise not have any knowledge of...
When hurricane Katrina hit, the Mormons were one of the first groups their helping people....the amount of resources and sheer organizational power of the Church of Latter Day Saints was phenomenal and vital to initial recovery after the Hurricane...
After completely his Hajj to Mecca, Malcolm X came to the belief that all races could live in harmony without the need for violence....this is in great contrast to his prior beliefs where he felt black rights should be protected by violence and that whites and blacks could not ever coexist...
The bottom line is that religion, just like any other institution made by man, is quite capable of both great good and great evil...the religious people I have met in life are just as likely to be ignorant and close-minded as the atheists I have met...
