People posing as heroes for homos are patronising busybodies.

Dear Yuyutsu,

No form of human organization continues to exist if it does not have elements which are appealing. I knew a man who had fond memories of the good times he had as a member of the Hitler Youth. That doesn't mean that Nazism was good. It doesn't mean that religion is good because you can find some injunctions for reasonable behaviour in it. You stated that religion is unpopular among lazy people. I know of no evidence that supports your statement - that will show that people who believe in religion are more or less lazy than who don't. To me religion is a form of superstition which apparently fills a need. I don't know whether we ever be so advanced that some will not feel that need. Superstition fills a need.

As far as the law in Australia is concerned - it's
not as straightforward as it may at first appear
and regarding the Andrew Thorburn case - lawyers
may have to fight it out if Thorburn does choose to
take things to court.

Thorburn's resignation was not a result of views that
he himself had expressed publicly. This is in contrast
with Rugby Australia's sacking of Israel Folau for
expressing homophobic views on social media - which the
athlete said were his religious beliefs.

There is a difference between holding those views and
then expressing them.

Thorburn's resignation was caused by a conflict of interest.
He was planning to occupy 2 positions which were inherently
in contrast and made it impossible for him to perform both
at the same time.

They did not attack him for being Christian.

Dear David F.,

You seem to think of religion as a belief, but belief is only one possible religious method among many and many religious people do not even use that particular method.

For a lazy person, belief is the easiest because it does not require them to get out of bed. Tell them however to get up early every morning to put on Tefillin and pray for an hour, or spend 4 hours in synagogue every Saturday morning, tell them to watch what they eat and say the proper blessings before or after - that is challenging, that makes religion unpopular far more than having to believe.

Tell a miser to give charity, tell a socialite not to gossip, tell a youth to be celibate, tell a glutton to avoid their favourite dish, tell a tourist not to travel on the Sabbath, or a hacker to stop playing computer games for that day - these are the main things that make religion unpopular, unappealing. For you, it seems, belief is the part of religion which most puts you off, but you are in a minority!

The "good news" is that you can be religious without having to believe in anything, superstitious or otherwise. If you are able to strive to be a good person and the best version of yourself even without the crutches of belief, to be kind, unselfish and peaceful, to love and serve all others as thyself, then you are probably more religious than the Pope, Rabbis and believers.

Dear Yuyutsu,

Since we have different definitions of religion we are not talking about the same thing. Further discussion when we are talking about the thing seems pointless.

Hi david f,

Certain business (pubs, nightclubs and service stations) are allowed to discriminate against law abiding citizens on the basis of dress standards.

Not sure this helps the discussion, but it was a point I just thought of.