I've just been reading through all the posts on the thread, and there's some interesting reading here, with some very interesting viewpoints on both sides.
I'm particularly interested in the viewpoints raised about people having their own moral compass. Simply put, religion is merely there to enforce control and we have the right to choose for ourselves what is right, based on our own moral compass.
But this logic kind of breaks down at some point, doesn't it?
If everyone gets to decide what is right for them, then we ALL have to adhere to the same logic. You then can't tell someone else that they're wrong in their viewpoint...even more, you have to accept their viewpoint on the same basis you would expect them to accept yours.
But then people do some rather disturbing things in life...is this because they have their own moral compass? Would we need to accept that they are doing what is right in their own eyes, and maybe they feel they have a right to do so?
Perhaps the most thought-provoking part of asking religion to simply accept whatever the cultural norm is at any given time, is what it might look like if they did?
One other thing that I find rather curious, is that the general consensus seems to be that of tolerance. We need to start showing more tolerance and stop judging people based on their lifestyle choice. The problem I have here, however, is tolerance seems to be one-way traffic these days. I don't see much tolerance toward religion and their views (I'm not talking about the forums, I'm talking generally). Tolerance only seems to be afforded to religion if they 'get with the programme'.
Just my two cents!