"God will even the score"

[Neo-Scholastic]

FNM your response is generally measure and well thought out. Clearly we have much common ground. We also agree that many believers do cross the line. I do not know from what country you hail. As an American, I would be very concerned the tacit acceptance of restrictions on the essential liberties of free exercise of religion and freedom of speech. As for example.

You are more than welcome to preach against homosexuality from your pulpits. When that preaching crosses into the public forum, a conglomerate of different religious viewpoints, your right to condemn others becomes limited.

Placing restrictions on opinionated speech based is never acceptible. If neo-Nazi groups or the Black Panthers want to pass out literature and march in public, they have the right to do so. I can ignore, respond, or ridicule them. If I go out all dandied up and someone on the street calls me a fag, I can tell him to fuck off. It's not always pretty, pleasant or comfortable, but that's how free speech works. The second, we start to say communists can pass out pamphlets but Jehovah Witnesses cannot, is the second we cease to be free.

... they do not have the right to deny others their liberties based upon those beliefs.

For the believer, practicing our faith is not confined to weekend worship services and potlucks. It affects all aspects of our life, including how we live and participate in society at large. While many here fear the intrusion of religion into political matters, the actual trend has been the other way around.

Here in Illinois, doctors and pharmacists that oppose abortion must violate their sincerely held believes to provide abortion procedures and drugs and they are not permitted to instead refer clients to associates that do not have problems with abortion.

In this example, the liberties of the person seeking abortion drugs have not been denied. They are free to buy their drugs elsewhere. On the other hand, the pharmacist has been denied her liberty. The State is dictating what she must do.

I recognize the fact that professionals with licenses take on certain obligations to serve the public good, but I do not see forcing them to violate the tenets of their religion a legitimate use of state power. What's the next step, telling observant Jewish pharmacists that they must stay open on Saturday just in case a 13-year old wants to by Plan-B?

In other word, Pro-Abortion groups are imposing their beliefs on people trying to live according to the dictates of their religion. Not the other way around.

What is bullshit is to think that religious beliefs give anyone a right to dictate how others live.

That depends on your use of the word 'dictate'. If you mean using the coercive power of the state to force people to do our not do things against their conscience then, yes, I fully agree. But if I want to publicly condemn fornication, sodomy, sadism, and pre-marital sex, I should be free to do so. And you should be free to promote public acceptance of these practices.

But I do not have the right to legally interfere with the private lives of others who are minding their own business nor do you have the right to legally prevent me from saying whatever I want (so long as I am not threatening immediate violence.)

Labeling someone a bigot is not a fascist attitude, anyways. It is expressing the idea that the position person holds is unreasonable and based upon uncontrollable factors.

Uncontrolable factors? Apart from rape, I seems that people are pretty much in control of with whom and how they choose to have sex.

Everyone has innate desires, often very strong desires, and sometimes evil and self-destructive ones. But unless they are mentally unstable they have some control over how they act on those desires. Some people have a genetic disposition toward alcoholism. And even if they can never fully purge themselves of their desire for drink, they can and many do take control of their lives.

So if I say to my sister, "You're a drunk and you need to clean up your life." Does that make be a bigot for calling her a drunk?

Race and biological sex are uncontrollable. Being born with a congenital disease is uncontrollable. And I will conceed that being born with an innate sexual desire for same-sex. How we act on our desires is a choice.