Why can't we all just get along?

Hawking has again created quite a stir, this time with an article, titled "Why God Did Not Create the Universe", in the Wall Street Journal. The article was adapted from his soon to be published book "The Grand Design".

I encourage everyone to go and read the article and then go and read the comments. It is the comments all 1293 of them at the time of writing that have inspired this blog post. There is a lot of arguing and posturing from either side of the debate, both religious and scientific zealots rule the comments.

But what I really want to know is, why can't we all just get along?

Why does it matter if a coworker prays to Mecca and is currently fasting his way through the daylight hours? 

Why does it matter if another is always in Church on a Sunday morning? 

Why does it matter that I don't think God exists?

None of this matters, either you're a good person, with strong and sound moral values or you're pure evil, or you are somewhere in between!

Everyone exists somewhere on the continuum between good and evil and belief (or lack there of) in a particular religion or philosophy has no bearing on where a person sits on this scale. There are very very bad people of every race, religion and creed around the world just as there are good. The sooner people realize that a religious affiliation has nothing to do with values or how 'good' a person is the better off the world will be. 

Tolerance is what we should all be teaching. Tolerance and acceptance of everyones right to believe what ever they want to believe.

That is all.