A well thought through post Joe, thank you for sharing your creed with us.

The bit I thought most useful was your take on abortion. You said you mourn when an abortion is carried out, however necessary. That is a take on the subject that I only wish others could follow. To mourn is neither to condemn or condone. None of us want our loved ones to die but we either accept that they do and mourn their passing or have problems coming to terms with the fact that they do and still mourn.

Your take on that particular emotive subject is one that people on either side of the debate could (or in my opinion should) accommodate.

I guess I am firmly in the camp that will find fault in organised religion and especially those who seek to influence others on the basis of their belief. However, there is a huge difference between opposing the rise of religious interpretations of society's future and opposing people who believe in their God.

I have friends and family who are Christian, Muslim, Jewish etc. If I were to debate their take on life with them, I am sure we would end up arguing, hence I don't tend to do so.

Mudcat does occasionally give people the opportunity to, namely or anonymously, air their deep thoughts with no sense of having to hold back in case close friends are offended. That makes these posts somewhat cathartic and I for one welcome the opportunity.

I am irreligious, I resent Bishops sitting in our upper house (Lords) by dint of their superstition and I genuinely cannot see belief as being anything beyond superstition. It can be a power for good and is often used wrongly as an excuse for performing bad deeds. In fact I accept that if we didn't have religions, we would probably invent them again anyway.

At the risk of sounding elitist, I cannot help thinking that as we evolve, religion will become less useful and that activists are fighting a rear guard action. I am convinced that the tradition rather than the rationale is the reason most people still identify with religions.

But you know Joe, if awful deeds were being committed in the name of my religion and I felt strongly that my religion was still relevant, my anger would be inward looking rather than pointing out the shortcomings of we heathens.