Exactly. My sole objection is to the attempt to have other peoples' archaic values imposed on me. Otherwise what the hell do I care what someone believes? Knock yourself out if you want to believe the Earth is 6000 years old. I have no respect for the belief itself, but I respect anyone's right to believe whatever they want.

I'm not making up that comment about going to church or synagogue and voting for Bush, by the way. For example (this article is now in the LA Times archives and I'm not going to pay to access it, but the abstract makes the point):

Bush Made Inroads Among Jewish Voters, Study Shows
Those who attended weekly religious services were split between the president and Kerry.
[HOME EDITION]



Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, Calif.
Author: Ronald Brownstein
Date: Apr 12, 2005
Start Page: A.19
Section: Main News; Part A; National Desk
Text Word Count: 560



Abstract (Document Summary)



The initial Edison/Mitofsky National Election Pool exit poll had found that Jews preferred the Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, over [Bush] by 74% to 25%. The Los Angeles Times exit poll had found an almost identical 74% to 26% split among Jews.

By comparison, young Jewish women preferred Kerry by a ratio of more than 7 to 1, the survey found. Kerry's best group was Jewish women over 60, who backed him over Bush 10 to 1, the study calculated.

According to [Mark Mellman]'s surveys, Jews who attended religious services weekly split their votes evenly between Bush and Kerry, while Kerry amassed big leads among those who attended less often.