Do we hate religious folk?

A great bugbear of mine is the assumption that as an atheist I am out to 'convert' people of faith, or that I must hate them.

Quite the opposite, and I work hard to encourage tolerance and understanding with the girls. We are so lucky to live in a really multicultural part of town, with local Buddhist temple, Catholic churches, Baptist churches, Greek Orthodox.... the list goes on. With all this diversity, being respectful of faith is really important. We talk about other faiths, and when we see something obviously different - eg a lady in a headscarf - we discuss why they are wearing it, and if I'm not sure we turn to trusty google, or the library, to find some simple answers. I would never ever promote being rude or disrespectful towards someone else's personal expression of faith. Sometimes the girls reflect that the behaviour seems strange to them, for example when explaining why some friends don't eat pork or bacon, and I can agree, but then explain that it's a long held cultural tradition as well as a religious one.

My problem with religion is organised religion. So often steeped in power, money and misogyny, I find the edicts from "on high" difficult to stomach.

I completely understand the comfort people feel through their practice of faith. [to me it's a false comfort but that's not to say I don't understand it, and it's not up to me to force you to see that santa doesn't exist if you choose to believe he does]. I can also see the attraction of getting a premade list of answers that are unchanging to life's big questions. Why are we here? What made everything? Why do my actions matter? For me science and nature answer these questions while posing billions more in a delicious mirrored hall of reality. I find it dazzling and awe inspiring to gaze across the ocean, stare at the stars or contemplate a forest.

Anyway, I have no desire to change anyone's mind. I am genuinely happy for my kids to follow a faith when they grow up. I hope that whether they do or not, they will keep some of the lessons of empathy, questioning, tolerance and reasoning that I have tried to impart.