Doug, I don't care if someone chooses to worship the Great Pumpkin. I do care when they try to shove it down my throat under the pretext that they know better than I do.

There's a bewildering array of reasons people choose to be religious, from fear to security to just habit. But many religious leaders seem to naturally exude charm and charisma, and as humans we tned to respect the idea of people having given their lives over to God, even if it isn't the same God we worship. When you combine that with a man or woman who genuinely wishes to do good for their fellowman, you can end up with a King or Ghandi or Tutu. (You can also end up with a nightmare like the 4th Crusade.)

Even Jesse Jackson turned out to be a pretty good negotiator :)