You know what I really, really hate? People trying to change my religious beliefs. I just had a "conversation" with someone who was trying to pick apart and attack what I believe because she didn't agree with it. She insisted that my beliefs "aren't exactly all worked out quite yet", apparently because of my stance on God and the creation of the universe; she criticized me because I don't believe that the word "reality" really means anything, while at the same time ignoring me when I said that and then making absurd statements, based on my stance on the word "reality", that were supposedly what I believe ("reality doesn't exist?"); she derived things from what I said that did not logically follow what I said and then attacked those; and she concluded that I must have no thought or real beliefs because I didn't answer to her satisfaction any of her questions that hinged on the non-word "reality".

I am quite sick of people assuming that because I didn't invent my own belief system I must be some idiot adhering to it blindly and unthinkingly. I am also sick of people who take it as their personal mission to change my beliefs because they don't agree with them or because they see some flaw in it that I must be some kind of moron for not noticing. I am especially sick of this kind of thing happening unannounced out of the blue, where me and whoever it is this time weren't even talking about our various religious beliefs. I did not arrive at what I believe out of complete randomness, and I certainly did not arrive at it without thinking a lot about it. Thought has always been very important to me, and I get more than a little offended when someone unfoundedly calls me "without thought".

I think it's reprehensible to try to change someone's beliefs because you don't agree with them. People do not arrive at them lightly, and it is quite the affront to say "You're wrong and I'm right." People's religious beliefs are a very personal thing, and to try to change them or to go about attacking them, especially for no particular reason at all, is despicable. Even if you think that whoever it is you're trying to change could not be more wrong, leave him alone. You really have no way of knowing how he got to that point, and even if he got to it without thinking about it, he's happy, and to try to tamper with that because you think he's mistaken is the ultimate sin.

-Eric Sleator
Fri 12 Oct A.D. 2001