Anyone else struggle with cynical/rude thoughts towards religious people?

[syntheticadrenaline]

Not for him.  That's what makes it so incredible, to me.  

So, lets say your friend experienced an altered state and came away with the same idea of becoming a priest - look at what some people do.  There are darker possibilities, too.  People experience altered states they attribute to gods (and any number of other things) which compel them to murder and terrorism, too.  Or so they say.  In the end, I think we have to accept their claims on principle as a meaningful if not entirely accurate description of what lead them to do such things...and on that count, so long as your buddy keeps his hands out of little kids pants, he'd be a relatively minor offender.

Yeah he's a good guy I've known a long time - I just can't help finding this stuff funny and then feeling guilty for laughing at someone's religious convictions that to them are very real.