"Finally, it is the commitment to freedom of conscience -not freedom of religion per se- that can help us distinguish between religious beliefs and practices that liberals should tolerate and accommodate and those that must be denounced and resisted. In the end, it is not religions that deserve our respect. A religion is a collection of metaphysical ideas and moral ideals. Ideas are believed or disbelieved; ideals are pursued or rejected. What deserves respect (or not) are people. We do not respect people by accepting whatever they think and do, but by holding them to the same intellectual, moral, and legal standards we apply to ourselves."
                                                                                                                              The Secular Conscience
                                                                                                                              Austin Dacey