I've slowly devolved in the direction of agnostic, because the prospect of a god who approves of what's going on the world (or else is completely disinterested in what we're doing down here) depresses me. It's very annoying having to defend my position to people like my crazy evangelical relatives (who pray for me to stop wanting everyone to gay marry and kill the babies), because, I mean, my religion or lack of it is my choice. Please, please stop touching my soul.

How is this so hard to understand?

I seriously don't know. It's like... No, I really don't have the words for it, Mar. Like, it is an issue that can be explained logically, in small and easily understandable words, and they don't get it. In more cynical moments, I think that the sort of attitudes inherent in religious conservatism like the kind that howls against gay marriage is incompatible with the idea of a democratic society in which individuals are free to make their own moral/ethical choices and the people who want to ban gay marriage and have a wonderful aren't-we-all-happy-and-free democracy do not see that there is a problem with this.

Grah.