Why should we have to respect religions?

If someone would paint his toenails blue every odd week and bark at the moon we would label him crazy.

If someone can't work every 7th day and insists on a girl being pregnant from "god" we have to respect* him.

My humble question is, why do we have to respect religion? I mean, most educated people from where I come from would scream "are you nuts?!", but yet this board clearly regulates that we must respect religion.

What religion?

Can I make up my own?

Don't get me wrong, I really do not want to make a own religion... But the question remains, why do we have to respect religion?
Why can't we challenge it?
Why can't we laugh at it?
Why can't we mock it?

NOTE that the question is WHY, the reason of the thread is not to laugh or mock religion. I just wonder why we cant.

We can laugh at someone saying that there is an alien who will burn the USA in one year unless the states sacrifices 100.000.000 Nike boots, but we cant laugh at someone saying we have a life after life?

So again, why do we have to respect religion? Why is religion different from anything else?








* "respect" him in the same way you tell him his childs are beautiful and his wifes cooking is GREAT.