Nothing to do with religion, just your bank balance. Plenty of other genres impose in the same way. Politicians, retailers, non-profits.
Well, next time Vince comes on TV and tells me that I will be going to hell if I don't buy his super-slap-chopper, then I'll consider it on the same level. Granted, politicians are close when they tell you that "The USA is no more, we now live in the socialist states of America, blah, blah".
There has been huge criticism and exposure levelled at the Catholic Church recently. I don't see where this 'untouchable' idea is coming from.
Yeah, that's directed at an organization due to their .... activities. The concept of religion in general though often has a lot of safeguards against criticism.
I remember reading a while back that a humanist group wanted to put signs on city buses that said something like "Why believe in God? Just be a good person." The city prevented them, even though they had previously had pro-religion signs on their buses.
I think the concept that is often missed is just how much religion is thrown into your face everyday. I'm sure in the south there are still courthouses where you have to place your hand on the bible and "swear to tell the truth so help you God." That's offensive to non-religious people.
Its very difficult to see the other person's point of view, and I am aware of this fact. In the USA Christians are used to having things catered to them, so when something is taken away because it violates the separation of church and state, they look at it as if they lost something, and the non-religious movement gained something.
The truth is that Christians would have to lose a ton to just be on equal footing with the non-religious movement. They of course don't see it that way, but that's the truth of the matter.
Its the same with gay rights (now we'll really go on a tangent

), you often hear religious people say they are tired of the "gay agenda". They're tired of people pushing the "gay lifestyle" in their face. What they really mean is they don't care that gay people are around, they just don't want to see them acting gay. They of course don't realize that telling gay people to "hide it" is a violation of their rights.