I recently heard reference made to the notion that religion, by definition, is irrational. This is not debatable... I mean... the concept of faith is irrational. So be it. From this notion I draw some strength in my "try to be social" need to accept or tolerate folks and their religious beliefs. Perhaps I should conclude that some (all?) people have a need to be irrational ... and if they didn't have religion... they'd just be irrational in some other aspect of their life. And at least with religion there's some child molesters religious leaders out there to control or contain the irrational behavior. So, just as with the notion of Civil Protest... something we embrace in Western Democracies, Religion is pretty much a pressure valve. This also speaks to the issue of why intolerant governments have historically beaten down civil protest and ... religious diversity.