The separation of church and respect

Recently I have been noticing increasing divides between many members of the BT and indeed conservatives. It would appear that this all began when the topic of Faith Based Schools(FBS) and their funding came into the equation as a hot-topic.

Regardless of where one sits on the FBS fence, one thing is absolutely necessary; preserving a level of conversation that demonstrates our esteem and respect for one another and our varying faiths.

We may not agree on religion, but we do agree on many other fronts. There is no reason that people who have a common goal of achieving reduced government, fiscal responsible government, personal responsibility and a strong moral society can't put their differences aside in order to accomplish these goals.

All too often one side or another in the religion debate reach a level of rhetoric that is not only disrespectful, but sometimes down-right childish. I see atheist conservatives clashing with christian and catholic conservatives. Sadly, some of the time they are both attacking muslims...

In reality, we are all swirling around this planet with alternate views of the way the world works, what's behind our existence and indeed how one should live their life.

At times, it is incumbent upon us to dismount our high horses and take a look inward. Instead of focusing on other people's religious beliefs, we should be taking into consideration our own. We should consider how we can live our own lives better, how we can help each other; not how we can convert someone to our religion.

If we can all just show a little respect we can ensure intelligent debate, and possibly move beyond this void and get on with pushing for the legislative change that we all dream of. After all, aren't we all in favour of free religion, freedom of speech, and respect for one another?