First, I'm not religious in any way. I thought that was clear but maybe not. Second, I'm not attacking you. My candor comes across as brash sometimes. Asking

First, I'm not religious in any way. I thought that was clear but maybe not. Second, I'm not attacking you. My candor comes across as brash sometimes. Asking "how come smart people often believe stupid shit" (again, candor, that's basically what you're asking) doesn't really have a reply that would satisfy you. But you don't have to understand it, they do. All you have to do is acknowledge that people believe what they believe and let them be. Whether someone else's branch is harmful says something about your particular brand of faith. They don't think it harms others. Would anything you believe in harm people if it were implemented? Is everything you think good and correct? People don't owe you an explanation for what they believe, just like you don't owe me answers to these two questions. We all believe things others don't like, we all believe things that others would view as harmful, and we all believe things we don't understand.