Just stop you right there at the beginning. This and many other threads have thrashed out your first comment so it is not easy to take it at face value.

Lack of conviction is not a conviction. My dog has no religious conviction so where is his conviction? I have no conviction over the ins and outs of stamp collecting. Why should I? It has no bearing on me. Ditto religion.

No conviction is not a stance, not an assertion. It purely means that I have no interest in becoming superstitious in such ways, giving me the benefit of being able to enjoy the company of those who do whilst decrying those who use religion as a tool to control others.

Interesting that I am at a Sikh equivalent of a christening tomorrow in Sheffield. The parents, good friends of ours, asked if we we would be offended by being invited.

Is this what religions do? Is the one true path bollocks so ingrained that normal friends who take theirs seriously assume such stances are common? I assume they think we are Christians, although the basis would be that we are white with blonde hair and blue eyes, like Jesus was.

(Copyright the esteemed gnome regarding that wonderful Jesus observation. (