This piece is great. I've often thought about how much better I'd do than many of the people on the other side of this debate if we all received some sort of general goodness report card. I was raised outside of any church, but I was raised right and I would put my morality up against that of any person of faith, assuming we could find an unbiased referee. In fact, I think my morality is all the stronger for not being tied to any particular dogma because it ensures that I am flexible and approach any given ethical dilemma with an open mind. Of course, truly moral religious people do the same thing. But I’m getting away from your excellent point that we have done nothing to deserve “tolerance” and I agree wholeheartedly with the commenter who said that your first sentence alone should be enough to guarantee our equal rights and treatment.

If I may make a brief critique, the list of your good deeds runs on slightly long and then near the end comes “I rarely boast or brag,” which caused a “yeah right!” to invade my enjoyment of the message for a moment. I realize this is probably a self-aware little joke but, considering the earnestness of the piece on the whole, I don’t think it quite works. Also, so lame of me, but I gotta point out that you use “too” when you mean “to” in the line about your father’s ashes. This is insignificant stuff, though, compare to the strength of what you are saying, particularly in the last few paragraphs. Keep it up!