Just As There Is No Such Thing

Missionaries In The Developing World Waste A Lot Of Time And Money (not To Mention The Goodwill Of Non-christians) Proselytizing To The Needy. . . . While Missionaries Do Many Noble Things At Great Risk To Themselves, Their Dogmatism Still Spreads Ignorance And Death. By Contrast, Volunteers For Secular Organizations . . . Do Not Waste . . . Time Telling People About The Virgin Birth Of Jesus. Nor Do They Tell People In Sub-saharan Africa - Where Nearly Four Million People Die From Aids Every Year - That Condom Use Is Sinful.

The Problem That Religious Moderation Poses For All Of Us Is That It Does Not Permit Anything Very Critical To Be Said About Religious Literalism.

The Freedom To Think Out Loud On Certain Topics, Without Fear Of Being Hounded Into Hiding Or Killed, Has Already Been Lost.

We Rely On Faith Only In The Context Of Claims For Which There Is No Sufficient Sensory Or Logical Evidence.

Rather Than Bring The Full Force Of Our Creativity And Rationality To Bear On The Problems Of Ethics, Social Cohesion, And Even Spiritual Experience, Moderates Merely Ask That We Relax Our Standard Of Adherence To Ancient Superstitions And Taboos, While Otherwise Maintaining A Belief System That Was Passed Down To Us From Men And Women Whose Lives Were Simply Ravaged By Their Basic Ignorance About The World.