Everybody hates a skeptic

I wish I wasn't such a jerk. In my mind, I know that talking to people about religion is a bad idea. And, really, I wouldn't go up to the cashier at Walmart and start talking creation theories with him. I'm not that bad. But I need to take drastic measures to remind myself that even with people who are close to me, there's a fine line between a thoughtful discussion about religion and offending them. I don't mean to offend people; it's just that I'm not all that emotionally invested in any one religious tenet. But other people are, and every time I ask them questions or bring up points that seem strange to me, they perceive it as an "insult" at some point.

And here's my real problem: I still don't understand why it's such a touchy subject. I know this sounds childish and naive, but I just don't get it. I was thinking about it this morning, and I realized that it doesn't really bother me anymore to learn things that shake the foundations of my understanding. It happens all the time. Somewhere between learning there was no Santa Claus and finding out that a global economy dictates jobs moving overseas, I stopped getting annoyed when things didn't go the way I want. There are over six billion people in the world, and it's practically guaranteed that most of them out there don't agree with you. So why do people tend to hold on so tight to things like religion? Intellectually, I know it's because it's their understanding of the world, their life and their meaning. But due to its very essence, belief isn't fact-based; it's faith, so it's open to interpretation. But then people get so offended when it's interpreted differently even when that's inevitable by its very nature. Gah! Can't we all just get along??