"Steve's 6:45 AM post was just more bigoted blather, so there's not much I can say in response."

Becoming a little mantra of yours this, isn't it Joe. Beats sensible response any time and please don't tell me that you can't respond to my blather. I take up your points and closely argue them and you don't like it (I'm glad about that). If you'd like to tell me what I say that is bigoted, I'd be glad to address it with you. How about this. You remain a Catholic because you were born a Catholic to your Catholic family and you haven't bothered to investigate whether a principled move away from that wouldn't be the proper thing to do. In fact, you remain a Catholic, thereby supporting an organisation that is corrupted by scandal, preaches illiberal and harmful nonsense, espouses mysogyny and makes saints of people who have harmed millions with their dishonest and misguided teachings. And which damages millions of children by peddling myth as truth. And it's an organisation with a centuries-long history of antisemitism. But you're still in it. Anyone who pretends to be thoughtful and reflective who can stay in with that shower is a bigot. And you call ME a bigot. Nice.

" I didn't particularly like Mother Teresa or her conservatism or her preaching against abortion, so I don't see why I should be obliged to defend her. "

I haven't asked you to. Stop playing the bloody victim.

"All I can say is that I don't think she was a wicked woman. I wouldn't vote for her to become a saint, so why blame me if she becomes one?"

As I said stop playing the victim.

" Well, I don't usually pray to saints, anyhow..."

But you do occasionally then.

"Steve, let me remind you of your list of condemnations, I also "don't respect human sacrifices, the brutality of Moses that somehow manages to get him a bye, inquisitions, torture, stonings, antisemitism, the exclusion of women, circumcision, waging imperialistic wars and quite a few other religious traditions that I won't go on to list." I ask again, why in the world would you imply that I would respect any of these atrocities?"

You said you respected religious traditions. Which ones of these are not tradition?

"What makes you think that you have the right to condemn me for the misdeeds of others? I have not denied any of the misdeeds of religion - but neither do I espouse them."

You don't condemn them either, and, after all, you are an enthusiastic member of the club.

" To blame and condemn me for the misdeeds of another, is the very essence of bigotry. And you, sir, are guilty."

Judge not.

"So, what is it I believe? I suppose if it all boils down to the basics, I believe in Good, which I personify as God. Whether Good/God is a real or metaphorical person, is something I won't answer. But whatever the case, my basic choice of faith is that I choose to believe in Good. St. John says God is Love, and that has meaning for me, too. One could say that God is the perfection of all superlatives that lead to Good, and I'd buy that."

Well I believe in good too. But your God is very bad indeed. He presides over plagues, famines and all manner of human suffering, including the deaths of millions more embryos than all the abortion clinics in the world combined could manage, and he fails to intervene in wars fought in his name. And all because Eve bit an apple. A bloody apple. Your doctrine stinks, doesn't it. It's rubbish, and, deep down, I think you know it.

"Armstrong says all the religions were established to express some form of the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you). I'd say the Golden Rule, some form of basic morality, is but one aspect of religious faith. "

And I'd say that the Golden Rule can be executed utterly Godlessly, and usually is. If you think you need religion to realise some kind of moral rule you're coming up with, you have a lot of explaining to do, like why most atheists are not mass murderers, rapists, thieves or child abusers.

"Others may see it otherwise, but I insist on being judged and heard only by my own words and thoughts and actions"

But you don't mind calling me a bigot and telling me I'm guilty (what judges usually say). You accuse me of blather. I accuse you of typing something then ten minutes later in the same post forgetting what you typed. I could have accused you of hypocrisy instead, couldn't I.

Your tendentious conflation of Good and God is fooling no-one. If I conflated atheism with good you'd be belly-laughing all the way to tomorrow morning. Yet I've got plenty of evidence that you're shaky and I'd be solid.