Runners Forum/Religion

A recent post and subsequent posts on a Runners Forum that was discussing things people have heard people shout during a marathon got under my skin a bit this morning.

One person posted: "One at Dallas this year kind of made me angry: "You can do anything because of Jesus" Now, you can believe whatever you want, but dont take away my accomplishment by putting the stamp of your religion on it."

That was fine by me. If you don't believe in god, then that does seem to take away from your accomplishment. It isn't something I feel is worth getting angry over but to each his own. There was some chatter about not letting those things bother you etc. and the original poster replied with:
"Todd - I think its great that you have a strong faith and believe Jesus is with you during your races. I don't believe that, and that should be my perogative - being told that I am only able to achieve something I worked very hard for because of an entity I dont happen to believe in is, to me, insulting."
Makes sense and is respectful of other people's beliefs.

But this subsequent response is what annoyed me:
"Angry? that is strange.
God and running go hand in hand.For those that can run it's a blessing.I would love to see a sign like that, that would be a huge motivational uplifting during a race. Don't give yourself all the credit for training, it goes deeper than that."

Talk about just not getting it. Believe what you want but don't tell other people what to believe. By saying "Don't give yourself credit for the training" he is quite clearly saying that what he believes is right and if you don't believe that, you are wrong. It is people with attitudes like this that turn people off from religion. Be a little more open minded and accepting of other peoples beliefs and be respectful of them and you would be suprised how far that can go.