>As an atheist I'm perfectly fine with people having beliefs. This rings hollow, because as soon as we want to police our own communities according to our laws

>As an atheist I'm perfectly fine with people having beliefs. This rings hollow, because as soon as we want to police our own communities according to our laws suddenly it becomes 'you are sexist, you are homophobic, you are anti-democratic, now hand over your children, your wealth and your guns'. >What I do have a problem with, is them imposing their values and morals on me, or judging me by them. They should keep that within their own communities. So that we can instead have your morals and values imposed on us? >But I would not wish to suppress other beliefs as long as they don't impose their values upon atheists or followers of other belief systems. And if they do try to do so my problem is with that imposition alone. So you would have no problem with Christians fining other Christians for premarital sex, or imprisoning women for having abortions, or Muslims flogging other Muslims for engaging in sodomy? Hell, what if we just don't want to bake a cake for a gay couple? >Something that does not affect or hurt them at all. I never understand the reason for this. Our morals are based on our religious texts. It has nothing to do with whether we feel 'affected' in the short term.