Of late, there have been any of posts on this site dealing with what is an agnostic, what is an atheist and so on with a lot of talk about differences which that author has deemed to be important.

Perhaps to some who has just left religion these types of discussion might be interesting, to anyone who has not followed religion for some period of time, this gets to be a bit boring, sort of like reading last weeks news. And it is missing the big picture of reality.

The big picture of reality is that the large religious groups have a monopoly on the discussion as to what is acceptable. In most of the world they decide and define what is acceptable, what is "right", what is "wrong" and what is "ethical and or moral".

Homo Sapiens in the big picture of the life of this planet of ours, have not been around a long time and as life in general, are experiencing an on going evolution in both body and mind. We are, at least I hope, not a finished product yet. So these discussions of what is acceptable, what is "right", what is "wrong" and what is "ethical and or moral" are of real importance, as they effect how we live our lives.

Another view often expressed on the site some, is this excitement over the perceived view that organized religion is fast declining and its disappearance is just around the corner. While I wish this were true, anyone honestly observing the world, knows this is not over all true.Yes there is some increase in non believers in some areas, but over all non-believers are still a minority. As a minority we have our rights limited, our opinions ignored and way too often our physical safety put in danger.

My view, and obviously you are free to disagree, is that the main goal of a such as ours should be to demand and establish beyond all constraints, our civil rights. Oh, of course there are laws in some nations supposedly protecting us. But just for example, anyone in the USA who seriously desires to hold a political office, in 98% of the electoral districts (local, state and national), they can not proclaim to be a non believer. This is discrimination and a violation of our civil and political rights.

In the great abortion debate, the religious side will keep bringing up their version of morality based on their version of "god". In our nation , a non believers take on morality not based on "god or religion" is given almost no hearing at all. True religious freedom allows the non believer equal opportunity to express their idea of morality.

This religious oppression goes beyond just non believers but also extends to the non major religions (wiccan, indigenous and folk religions).

The major religions are not going to disappear, no matter how much we hope they might. What we need to do is to demand a "seat at the table" and demand that our views be given the same level of consideration as those of the religious. The goal is not to drive off the other religions (which is a totally unrealistic hope), but to have the views of the non believer taken as equal to and as just as important as those of believers AT ALL TIMES AND UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES!