Remembering the reasons they exist
Unions: To give the people actually doing the work a say in the way they work. Not an entitlement to expansive benefits that constrict the ability of the business to do business.

Laws: To make sure that even people who don't know each other, and don't necessarily care about the welfare of strangers, act in such a way to make a community's survival possible.

Government: To make larger communities work as efficiently as possible, giving a few people the responsibility to make decisions in the interest of the whole population.
- posted by Chris @ 11:24 AM

 
"Just give me that old-time a-theism!"
Salmon Rushdie says "But religion today is big public business, using efficient political organization and cutting-edge information technology to advance its ends. Religions play bare-knuckle rough all the time, while demanding kid-glove treatment in return."

As much as I would like to disagree with him, I can't. I call many people "friend" with whom I can't discuss the personal and important matter of faith because I know my position [not quite atheism, but a more generalized spirituality than any formal denomination practices] receives no respect from them. So I either listen to them sermonize, or we avoid the matter entirely. It's very frustrating ... even worse to see that while many of the ideas of the world's great religions could bring so much hope to so many, the way they are used in the world only creates more division among us.
- posted by Chris @ 4:31 PM