You know what? It's not that people don't respect religion or beliefs. Would you respect someone who judged you based on outter appearance? How about someone who brainwashes your family by absorbing their time, limiting what they can and cannot do or having them believe what they want them to belive. Using reverse psychology, manipulation, and false doctrination or man made dogmas. So if a random cultic legalistic person is knocking at your door stating " your a sinner repent; or that Gods evil punishment is upon your soul cause you have sex without being married" ,... Would that not bother you? So would you still have respect for that certain religion or denomination?
What is the deal with everyone needing "respect" for what they believe? Do you respect a Muslim who lives by a holy jihad (violence) philosophy, just because he calls it his religion? Do you respect a satanist whose desire to serve Satan causes him or her to seek blood sacrifices of animals (or worse)? I do not require respect, unless you mean allowing others to make their choices as they see fit, which I do. (what choice do we have?) I believe respect is something one earns as they travel their own path with a modicum of dignity. Hard work, family first, others second, and self last....this man has my respect as a person, even if he denies the existence of God. This will continue until he makes choices that bring about a loss of respect, from others, and self too usually.
its the fact of differences, whether it be race,religion, or any other reasons, people just do not respect others differences which leads to ignorance and hate.
First of all, religions are strange and fantastic belief systems. You get to believe in gods with many arms, or a single god that is actually three different gods but still a single god, a god that destroys people with lightning bolts, talking donkeys, etc. It is easy to see how another religion is very strange, but you can't see the weirdness in your own beliefs. This is why we don't respect other religions, because they are obviously fake and man-made. Of course, our own religion is true, no doubt about that.
I don't give respect to religions. That's ridiculous. If I gave respect to the Baptist denomination, that would include Jim Jones and all those people who committed suicide. I'm not willing to do that. Respect is earned by the individual. It's not freely given.
It's not hereditary. It's life. No one, who has any sense, is going to just give their respect to everything. Most people reserve that for other people who are deserving of it. Not just because they believe in something.