Dibble, I'm afraid the situation is quite desperate. My reaction to anyone who wants to control me and take away my freedoms is, you are correct, somewhat emotional. I don't apologize for that. We all have a right to be disgusted by others if that's our genuine reaction. Certainly they feel no need to apologize for their reaction to people like myself.
Having emotions is part of what makes you human, nobody blames you for that - however, letting your emotions blind and control you is foolish. Blind is blind, and is never a good thing. Being disgusted by someone else's actions may give you a motive to act in a disgusting manner yourself, but a motive is not always justification. Your argument ceases to hold weight with reasonable people when you lash out emotionally. When I speak, people listen, simply because when I say something it is reasonable and thought out - people value my words. People are not valuing the words you speak lately, because they are not viewed as reasonable or thought out.
Generalizing is fine sometimes, but overgeneralizing is a big problem. I view society as a collection of individuals, and people must be treated as individuals. Very rarely do I just lump them into a group, an even more rarely do I do so based on emotion. Yes, religion requires a leap of faith - but so do many things in the real world, religious or not. Ignorance, hatred, prejudice - these emotions spring not from religion, as even secular people have them. Some atheists I know of are far more intolerant than most Christians.
I realize religion can sometimes cause problems, but remember that religion really is just an ideology - all people have some form of ideology, and all forms of ideology can be twisted to intolerant ends. 'Faith' really has nothing to do with it. Believing in any ideology requires some degree of faith - even yours.
Once again, this goes back to generalization - I know of a few Libertarian fundamentalist Christians. They believe their morality is correct, but they don't feel the need to force it on others - they realize other people have the right to a different opinion. This is one more reason why I don't generalize.
Yes, I hold you to a higher standard - this is perfectly fair. I hold you to a higher standard than say, Shira, because I have come to expect better of you than you act now, as opposed to Shira who as always acted the way she does as far as I've known her. That's why I'm dissapointed in your recent behavior - you set standards for yourself with your previous behavior and now you don't live up to what I expect from you. People are not the same - they are physically, mentally, emotionally, and intellectually different, so it is only natural that some are held to different standards than others. I hold McDonald's to a different standard than the authentic Italian restaraunt I go to - they are both restaraunts, but I expect different things from them. I expect to be held to certain standards as well - different ones than other people.
EDIT - And don't think I dont' argue my views with the Christian crowd - I once spent multiple weeks trying to convince jmfcst that his God is evil.
