Bryan Travis:  

now I have no choice but to support them. As for religion, I've been across the spectrum from fundamental evangelical Christian to Unitarian to atheist, and absolute extremes aren't for me, so I fall in the middle, devoutly agnostic. I believe religion has no place in government, the courtroom, or schools, because in these settings, religion invariably forces us mere, imperfect mortals to play the role of God by writing laws, interpreting laws, or what we teach our children. If religion really does offer humanity the greatest truth in the universe, then let its truthiness stand on its own; let us not force it on our fellow human beings via law, judgment, or education. I am agnostic, but that does not mean I am any more or any less evil, ethical, or moral than anyone else. In my evangelical days, I distrusted, feared, and didn't understand anyone who rejected religion, so if you are a believer, I can certainly understand if you feel the same way about me. Aside from the obvious difference in metaphysical beliefs, the second main difference between us is that I accept death as possibly, even probably, being the end of me and all that I am. That takes some getting used to, but when I did, I understood that I have this one chance at life, this one shot to do it right. When I do wrong, I can't just pray for forgiveness - I must try to undo the damage I've done and try to make it better. As strange as it may sound, it is only through accepting the ultimate finality of death that I could appreciate just how precious life is, the beauty of all living things, the joy of being able to experience it, and working to make the world a better place during my short time here. Just like you, I have known the joy and anguish of love, happiness and sorrow, mercy and anger, humility and pride, friendship and hatred, togetherness and loneliness, success and failure, courage and fear, pleasure and pain. I have an irrational fear of spiders.