Religion does not OWN this!!

I am tired of listening to religious people claiming things that do not belong to religion.

When discussing with a religious person, I am confronted by the ignorance of someone who is so biased, they have no ability to analyze their own beliefs. As we run into Easter, Bill O'Reilly is moaning on about how atheists have a war on Easter, not understanding that "Easter" never belonged to Christianity. The Vernal Equinox has been celebrated by cultures long before and still around the Middle-east, Europe, and Asia.

Although the origin of the name is unknown, some sources claim the word is derived from Eostre, a teutonic goddess of spring and fertility. I need not go into the other Easter traditions, such as Rabbits and Eggs, as they obviously have nothing to do with religion.

The same goes for Christmas, in which every notion of the common holiday has it's origins in pagan society, mostly Germanic and Nordic in origin. From Eggnog to evergreen trees covered in lights, to mistletoe and yule logs. Even Santa himself.

I go down the list of ideas and traditions religions have conveniently absorbed into themselves to be more attractive to potential converts. Or simply because those who started the religions thought them to be normal.

Everything from meditation to marriage, afterlife to truth. Awe and wonder.

It was the last two I was most shocked to hear religious complaining about lately. PZ Myers recently brought this subject up quoting the guardian, a British newspaper.  The article, titled "Prof Brian Cox: Physicist or Priest?" claims that religion and only religion holds dominion over awe, wonder, amazement.  Once again, this only demonstrates how narrow of views some religious people have and their disdain for science.

The Language of Religion, as PZ points out, is "Dominion, Tribalism, Ignorance, and Fear"