Respect

It's interesting that today, the voice of the Atheist is being heard, louder and in some places for the first time in history. The various churches have ruled the roost for most of history, and to speak out against the church has traditionally been seen as blasphemy. We are often told about the Christian martyrs who died for their beliefs, but rarely do they refer to the countless others who were tortured or butchered for disagreeing with them.
There are still parts of the world where there is no such thing as free speech and where to be an atheist is to have a very short life expectancy. A schoolteacher was jailed recently for naming a teddy bear after a man who kicked off the world's biggest and most dangerous religion.
Islam aside, the churches are losing their grip and it is as unlikely that I will be jailed for denying the existence of a god as there actually being one. And so for the first time in history the Atheists are coming out of the closet. Many people have lost respect for the churches, and that is unsurprising with the tales of corruption, hypocrisy and sexual deviation that seem to be the norm in the modern church. As an ex teacher, i know that respect is something that has to be earned. It is not something that once lost, is easily regained, and as things are, it would appear that the churches are on a slippery slope heading towards oblivion. One can only hope that it applies to all of them, but I suspect that will not be the case.