I've annoyed you with the fact that i think for myself.

So, unless you're blind, or just illiterate, you've noticed that i've become more vocal lately on issues of religion, spirituality, and the like. So the question gets raised, "why now, and why this particular angle?" First, and I think, most importantly, this is NOT new for me. Not by a longshot and not by about 25 or more years. That's a quarter of a century from when i first began to, cautiously, challenge the mystical beliefs, from bottom to top, which I'd been force fed as a child, teenager, and young adult. I'm not afraid to admit that my views on the value, or lack thereof, that subscribing to a set of beliefs to partially dictate my behavior, which have nothing to do with anything related to evidence, have evolved acutely over the past ten years. The past two years in particular, as a direct consequence of involvement in social media, have solidified my world view. It's the immersion in the opinions, views, and beliefs of SO many people from SO many parts of the world and walks of life, which have led me back to the first time i questioned the validity and utility of religious dogma in all of it's forms. Within the utterly loose confines of social media, i've had the opportunity to see SO much utter nonsense in the form of people's spiritual, mystical, and religious beliefs, that it has been, at times, astounding to realize that people ACTUALLY believe this stuff. Ironically, the solidification of my world view in this regard has NOT been contributed to by any of that which i've seen from the atheist and agnostic community. I've seen nothing new there, and, for me, that's good. What i've seen coming from the "religious" community, in all of it's forms and incarnations, ranges from the innane silly fantasies that people indulge in via conveying their thoughts on "god", to some of the most venemous vitriol being employed to defend those beliefs that i've ever had the misfortune to witness. Furthermore, i've come to the conclusion, for myself, how utterly dangerous and irresponsible any belief in the deity atually is. At it's foundation is the complete abdication of the self, of the person, of personal responsibility. It results in the abdication of justice at every turn. It allows horrible things to happen, by dismissing it in saying "They will be punished in the next life, even if the jury acquits them of their horrible act here on earth.". It is the abdication of free will in all of it's forms. It says that you are under constant surveillance. It says that you will suffer for eternity if you do not bow to me. It is a criminal scam perpetrated upon my neighbors, as they tithe their earnings because they are told "God commands it". It's theft and embezzlement. It's historically unsupportable in it's so called "history". Almost none of what any single religion claims has "happened" in the past, in it's stories and parables, actually ever happened, and as more time passes, more of it's supporting assertions are disproven. It has no place in the lives of honest, self supporting, free thinking people who choose lives of integrity and joy. No place whatsoever. And, for the record, NONE of this precludes or interferes, from MY perspective, my ability to have amicable and productive relationships with my theist peers. If there is any potential for interference in such, that falls on you, not me.