Community Standards and Religion

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I am agnostic in the sense that I don't believe there is a god, and I don't believe there is no god. Or rather I don't concern myself with the question anymore because it makes no difference if there is this entity out there. If there is a cosmic bogey man that will spend an infinite amount of energy to torment me for not believing any one of the many concepts that are out there, so be it. That is not to say I would never participate in any cultural service. If I'm with a group that wants to celebrate an Eastern Orthodox Christmas service, just tell me what non-believers are supposed to do so I do not offend anyone. I'll attend any religious gathering, as long as I meet with someone who will explain to me the rituals and how I should, as a non-believer, behave. Should an unbaptized person refrain from making the cross, for example? There are some god believers who seem to think that if one does not believe in a god, especially whatever particular concept they have of their god, that one would be free to do any thing they want to, like killing, stealing, fornicating, what have you. A child is raised up by a family or community (most ideally both, in my opinion) that would set the groundwork. Remembering my own childhood (started as Presbyterian until my mother married a Southern Baptist, but after the marriage we went to military chapels) I was told things like don't lie, steal, do be courteous to everyone, especially elders, and the like. Since we were not regular church-goers, no concept of god was linked to this standard code of behavior, at least not before adolescence. We went to church, was told that a man named Jesus died for our sins (I never got the concept until well into adulthood,) sang songs that most were unintelligible to me. But this behavior code was to obeyed at all times, and everyone was to follow this code of proper behavior, no matter what their concept of god was. If you didn't your parents smacked you (this was back in the Sixties) or if at school you be sent to the principal who can also smack you, or during adolescence to a guidance counselor (never got smacked by one of them, but I never got in serious trouble, and by then it was the Seventies.) Of course if I lived in a different community that regularly went on raids to neighboring villages to kill and plunder, and that when I was older I would be expected to participate, most likely they would have taught me a different set of values based on their community, and have educated me appropriately. So behavior standards are really set by the community (including your parents) and the state. Whatever isn't specified is fair game for all individuals who are of age, unless you add the additional rules of whatever religion or other community you also choose to be a part of. But even if it is specified, an individual can fight for the right (at least in the United States) to have laws changed. The gay rights issue is a popular example. When one embraces a religion, you are agreeing to a certain concept of god and a certain behavior standard that was established at the time it started and amended as mutually agreed by its leaders. But if a person does not agree to it, these days you can start your own religion, with its corrected concept of god and corrected behavior standard. So in a community that includes the right to practice any religion (within guidelines) one who decides not to practice any still has to follow the community standards. And of course one is under no obligation to observe any religious behavior or constraint unless 1) one chooses to do so, or 2) the religious behavior or constraint gets made into law. For the second option, you will need to convince a lot of people, and if it effects a large number of people, even if they are in the minority, and they have their own right to change laws.