When you were going off on your aforementioned diatribes on religion, I actually sat down and spent about 15 minutes framing a response. Not to convince you of any one religion's correctness, but to argue your point that religion has done more harm than good (I strongly disagree), and to point out that dogmatic belief that all religion is bunk is in and of itself a form of religion. But after about 15 minutes, I decided, "No one cares what I think, and I am not going to change anyone's mind." So I deleted it all and went back to work. I also couldn't find much in terms of evidence to support my stance, so I felt I would be mostly wanking in the wind.
One piece of advice for others on this site: if you are writing something as part of a back-and-forth, when you are done composing, don't send right away. Go back and read it. Does it say what you are trying to say? Is the tone right? Are you adding new information, or just reiterating? Would you say this to someone's face?
If you answer "No" to any of these questions, revise, or maybe just plain delete. For every 5 messages I send, there is probably 1 that I compose and then delete. It is freeing to step away from a contentious conversation that is clearly leading nowhere. And just because an idea pops into your head, that doesn't mean it needs to be said (or written).
