Well, to my mind, to ridicule what another person holds sacred, is to ridicule the person himself. It is just as intolerant as it would be to ridicule a person because of race, disability, ethnicity, language, gender, or sexual orientation.

I don't agree with this. For a start, your religious belief is, or should be (we could reflect on that, of course...), a matter of choice, unlike the other attributes you list. Second, it is time-honoured (take that as being as pejorative, or not, as you wish) that religion protects itself by insisting on its own sacredness. I could be saying that at least we're no longer bound by aggressive heresy laws, but in many parts of the world that is de facto, or de jure, patently not true. Third, I don't hear too many people of faith admitting that the flaunting of religious symbolism in our schools and streets is disrespectful of people of different or no faith. You can't have it both ways. Fourth, most reasonable people of no faith would assert that you have the unassailable right to hold whatever religious beliefs you like and not be disrespected for them. I'm an atheist who knows many people of faith, but I never go around taking them on about it, even though I think they are harbouring a delusion. I can keep that to myself quite easily. But if we are supposed to be having free discussion about religion, here or anywhere else, the fact that atheists regard faith as delusional is a legitimate part of the agenda. Once heads of either persuasion are above the parapet, you don't get to tell us what is off limits. If you hold something as sacred, then presumably you are equipped to defend it to the hilt against all comers without getting too upset with people who are rather direct in their demurring. So do so with good humour and don't retreat into some medieval defensive mindset. Finally, attacking the belief is not attacking the man. If it sounds like is, it's because you're expressing your belief in a ridiculous way, for example by claiming that science is wrong and that "evolutionists" are charlatans, or that abortion is a religious issue. Otherwise, let's face it: you may be a man of faith but you don't go around all day with your hands joined, do you?