You rely on modifications of religious symbols belonging to only one religious path, namely the Judao-Christian one. What about the far-eastern religions? For centuries, people from the "West" have been telling them that what they believe and has worked for them for many thousands of years is "wrong" and that they should take up the much newer sets of beliefs that the "West" has adopted, in which it's more or less OK to kill to get some other culture's wealth and property, but it's not OK to be happy with what little they've got. I do have some trouble with that practice.

I'm persuaded that, until we've settled our own culture down to some modicum of peace and prosperity, we shouldn't dispatch people to proselytize, whether for religion, politics, or economics. It's clear that the "Western" systems are just as flawed as the "others".

The only thing that we seem to prefer in the "West" is the freedom to believe that everyone else is wrong.

While I've no problem with you or anyone else believing or disbelieving whatever you prefer, I do have a problem with someone else trying to change it. Even the Muslims, presently subject of much information and misinformation about their practices such as "forcing" their beliefs on everyone else, "otherwise they kill them," have a much more tolerant "official" position with adherents to other faiths than do the "Westerners", particularly in the U.S. There's room for debate about the accuracy of the information bandied about as well as the actual practices of some branches of their faith. It's perfectly obvious that rabid fundamentalists in the West are just as intolerant of their competitors, though they don't go about murdering them. The behaviors of religious entities within the U.S. seems to make it apparent that they are, simply put, like any other business. Large or small, they tend to move in the direction of maximal revenue. I've long believed that organized religion is just another way to get between you and hour sheckels. That's one reason I don't believe religious organizations should be tax exempt.

RE