I try to respect all beliefs--as long as that belief does not endorse abusiveness, violence or some other sort of deconstructive force against mankind and/or nature. So, for example, I respect Christianity, but I do not respect those factions of Christianity that oppress women, gays, or other groups of people, nor do I respect those factions that protect individuals who abuse children. I believe that there is a little good in every religious institution, as well as a little bad--and I respect that fact as well.
There is a difference, of course, between belief and religion. Many denominations of Christianity see homosexuality as a sin, yet many homosexuals hold Christian beliefs. One may be a Christian, a good Christian, and not be considered a sinner for also being a homosexual. And that is just the Christian world. To put it another way, as Karen Armstrong observes, "There are some forms of religion that are bad, just as there's bad cooking or bad art or bad sex, you have bad religion too." Just because the Catholic Church has been protecting leaders within its institution who have broken sacred vows of trust (molesting children, for example), does not mean that pedophilia is a part of the Catholic faith. Likewise, what one believes within a particular religion does not speak for the religious institution as a whole.
Religious institutions seem to inspire both the worst and the best parts of humankind. Armstrong thinks that "one of the reasons why religion developed in the way that it did over the centuries was precisely to curb this murderous bent that we have as human beings." I think that is possible, but I also think the opposite, that religion developed to channel that same murderous bent: from crusades for Christ in the Middle Ages to Jihad terrorist acts today.
What I believe or don't believe--what you believe or don't believe--is personal and therefore sacred. Don't tell me what I should believe, and I won't tell you that your beliefs are wrong (with exceptions as stated above).
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