///Josep, it's time for us non-believers to speak out in protest against the bigotry of religious
indoctrination in the South and elsewhere.//

So who's stopping you?

///To say "so what?" to people being killed because of religious fanatics such as Schroeder is heartless.///

Again, so what? I don't control how people react. They'll probably want to kill you--especially in Texas which I think is the worst place on earth for civilized people. But if you don't stand up to them, nothing will change. So stay silent and suffer or speak up and suffer. I'd rather suffer getting beaten fiar and square than to let someone walk all over me. At least I can be proud of mysef.

///To say you are unsympathetic is probably not what you actually meant but if it is you should be ashamed of yourself.///

I meant it and I feel no shame whatsoever. You choose to live in a hell-hole then suffer. If you don't like it, speak out against it. If you're afraid to do that then leave. How many other situations are you ever in where you get that many choices?

///People didn't deserve to die because they wanted their civil rights.///

I never said anyone deserved to die. I don't control how people react. If they kill you, they kill you. I can't do anything about that. It's the price you pay sometimes for doing what is right. I've watched too many punk out when they should have stood up and I find it despicable.

///The true test of an atheist is to speak out when their civil rights are violated.///

Okay, then, speak out and take whatever lumps come your way. Welcome to the world.

///To say that they get what they deserve for speaking out is a choice that shouldn't have to be made. No one should have to tolerate religious bullies ever.///

I never said anybody deserved it. The only time you deserve what you get is when you're too afraid to speak out. But when you speak out and don't expect retaliation, that comes close to deserving it. Of course there's going to be retaliation. That's should be why you do it--to show the world why you had to speak out. If you die, you die. If you're not willing to die for what you believe in then you don't really believe in it. Would you die for your family? Of course, if you didn't then you really don't love them. It's the same thing here. Sometimes the issue is bigger than you.