Discussing Religion Can Be Very Difficult
Here in the Religion Group on DU, that difficulty is often quite visible. Some people are confused about the reason this group exists, and sometimes confuse the words "Religion" and "Religious." Discussions can sometimes look like active mine fields by the time a discussion finally winds down.
Part of the problem, of course, is that religious belief often carries a highly emotional load with it. When a person's closely-held religious beliefs are challenged, often that person reacts emotionally and negatively to such challenges. In other cases, abuses of individual freedoms or open bigotry are sometimes part of some people's actions, based on religious beliefs. While such things are not typical, they do occur and often even make the news. We often discuss such things here.
Since the Religion Group on DU is an open forum, anyone can post here, regardless of individual attitudes towards religious belief. Non-believers are officially welcomed here and can freely join the discussions in this group. Adherents to all religions are also welcome here, and are free to post about their beliefs. That, quite naturally, leads to posts and discussions that question the very validity of some religious beliefs.
Here's the thing: Religious beliefs and attitudes are a voluntary choice. Both belief and non-belief are valid options, and have equal weight. There's nothing sacred about believing in deities or in following a particular religion. It is simply a choice people make. Non-belief, too, is a choice, even though some people are simply unable to believe in supernatural things or entities. Non-belief is not inferior to belief, nor is belief inferior to non-belief. Both are acceptable here as topics of discussion.
We are all here, in an open discussion forum. We all have our own opinions. We needn't defer to whatever choices people make with regard to religion. Nor should we attack one another for those choices. We can discuss religion without resorting to anger, dishonesty, or untruths. Truly we can. We can disagree, even vehemently, without the use of ad hominem arguments or other illogical argument methods. We can. We should. We should, I think, make our opinions heard if we wish to do that, but we should do so without rancor, dissembling, or personal attacks.
Discussion of religion can be difficult, but it needn't be vicious.
That's my opinion on this Valentine's Day.
= new reply since forum marked as read
but i don't think "choice" is correct. We don't choose to believe or not have beliefs. It is part of our formed world view.
It would be like saying we should start believing what Trump says aren't lies. 
