Respect For Religion
By - James Lawrence
“Respect” is Religion’s Cover to do what it Wants
How many times have you been in an argument with a theist, either in
person or via the Internet, and they’ve at some point spoken the magic
words…
“If you’re an atheist that’s fine, but you should respect my beliefs.”
Argh! A nightmare situation! Political correctness is pulling us away;
something tells us that for some reason, we have to respect their beliefs. It’s
like kryptonite to us; it is their magic umbrella that they whip out the second
a little drop of logic wets their heads. Through those words, they can strut
about like a triumphant peacock, safe under their respect umbrella, knowing
that polite social convention prohibits us from taking further action. Well I
am here to pour acid rain on that umbrella, because I don’t think we do have
to respect people’s beliefs, and the beauty of this is that most theists agree
with me. They just don’t know they do.
Case in point: the Westboro Baptist Church, the largest collection of nutters
that Kansas has to offer, is run by possibly the most hated family in the
world. At what point do people, Christian or otherwise, stand up and say,
“Yes they think all soldiers are burning in hell, as is Ghandi. Yes, they think
homosexuals consume faeces; yes, they honestly believe that Barack Obama
is literally the antichrist; but...you have to respect their beliefs.”
No one says that or thinks that! No, we all treat the WBC how they deserve
to be treated, and that is with ridicule. However, I will say this about the
Westboro Baptist Church: they actually follow the scriptures; they’ve read
them, understood them and follow them as much as the law will allow. They
are the least hypocritical Christians out there, which goes to show that you’d
have to be bananas to actually follow the scriptures.
Do All Cults Deserve Respect?
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