Non-Believers ridiculing religion and pumpkins

Recently there have been complaints at the forums here concerning
a-trollists not showing proper respect for religion and most especially toward pumpkins.

As a religious moderate, this concerns me, both for the disrespect and
for the cries for censorship. I understand both and sometimes wish we lived in a world where we all believe the same thing. But that world never existed, and never will.

Obviously we are long past the days of smashing non-believers heads
with our pumpkin bats, and most of us agree that is as it should be.
A-trollists should not be killed simply because they do not
acknowledge the Great Trolls who sleep under our bridges.

Certainly there were and are those who think our Religious Tolerance
Law has gone too far. The terrible wars between those who say that
North Sleeping Sleeping Trolls are under our bridges and those who
insist their beards point South showed the necessity for such
legislation, but did we need to include the a-trollists?

I believe that we did.

I am a moderate. I do not claim to know which way the Holy Beards
point. Out of respect for tradition, I do pinch my nose and cup my
groin when I pass over a bridge, but I do not shut my eyes. Do the
Great Trolls really expect us to do that at highway speeds? I think
not (though I respect the views of those who disagree).

Our family joyfully smashes pumpkins on Lesser Slaughter Day. There
is a mess to clean up, and my wife grumbles about the carpets, but we
do it for the children. Tradition has its place, we feel.

I tend to vote against new bridges unless they actually serve a
purpose. I do not think that laying a hose across a road qualifies as
a water crossing and do not think we need to keep increasing our taxes
to pay for such. Replace the bridges we have, of course, but as we have
so many now, can any Great Troll still be wandering, searching for a
place to rest? It seems unlikely.

My point is that, just a few decades ago, the paragraphs I wrote above
would have caused grim looking High Troll Protectors to appear at my
door and my poor children might never have seen their father again.
My pumpkin bat, a cherished relic from my father and from his father
before that, would have been seized and destroyed. Shame would have
been on our family and they likely would have been shunned.

But today I am protected by law and all religious belief is equally
protected. Yes, I think it regrettable when a Traditionalist causes a
gruesome accident at a bridge, but protecting their right to close
their eyes and drive with their knees is more important than the few
hundred thousand lives lost yearly. Religious tolerance is only
meaningful if applied equally.

If we can accept the slaughter of innocents at our bridges, surely we
can stand a few insults in the forums? As distasteful (and as
foolhardy - do they think the Trolls are unaware?) as it is, cannot we
just ignore it? These people WILL suffer eternal torment, doomed to
be boiled and eaten by Trolls again and again forever. Is not that
enough? Must we visit punishment on them now when such horror plainly
awaits them?

I know it is upsetting to hear our beliefs ridiculed. But I ask this
question of Tradionalists: if you are a Norther, do not the Southers
ridicule you just by having such beliefs? Do not my beard-agnostic
beliefs effectively ridicule both and in turn are my beliefs not
ridiculed by yours?

You say "But we all know the Trolls sleep under our bridges". Yes, we
do, but is the direction of beards not important? Great wars were
fought over these matters; can they really mean nothing?

I hate the a-trollists as much as anyone. On Lesser Slaughter Day, I
imagine that some of the pumpkins are a-trollists. This helps me deal
with my anger; I recommend this little fantasy to all. However, in
real life, though I may find them repugnant and quite ignorant, I
believe that our society is stronger because of the Religious Tolerance
Law and I feel that tolerance must extend to forums here.

I welcome your comments, but warn the a-trollists that I will not
tolerate disrespect here. Any disrespectful comments by a-trollists
will be deleted.