There are a lot of comments about "Religious Liberty" or "Religious Freedom" making the rounds these days.
To hear some people, religious freedom means "freedom to be a bigot while blaming God for your bigotry". I don't buy it. I don't want to support that kind of "religious freedom".
To my mind, the importance of supporting religious freedom is completely dependent upon what a person does with their religious freedom.
For example, if (compared to the average person in your community) your exercise of your faith makes you a more compassionate person, or a person with a more open and accepting attitude toward those who are different from you, I believe I have a sacred responsibility to respect, support, and defend your exercise of your religious freedom.
On the other hand, if (compared to the average person in your community) your exercise of your faith makes you a less compassionate person, or a person with a less open and accepting attitude toward those who are different from you, I believe that my responsibility to respect, support, and defend your exercise of your religious freedom can be best expressed in such terms as: nil, nada, bupkiss, sweet Fanny Adams, zilch, zero, and zippidy-doo-dah.
If your exercise of your religious freedom makes you a Gandhi, a Martin Luther King, a Mother Theresa, or a Mary MacKillop, I stand with you.
If, on the other hand, your exercise of your religious freedom is comparable to the behaviour of those who ran the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, or the Salem Witch Trials, you're on your own.
Monday, 9 November 2015
2 comments:
Constructive comments, from a diversity of viewpoints, are always welcome. I reserve the right to choose which comments will be printed. I'm happy to post opinions differing from mine. Courtesy, an ecumenical attitude, and a willingness to give your name always help. A sense of humour is a definite "plus", as well.
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religious freedom has nothing to do with whether your beliefs or religion are currently politically correct, or not.
ReplyDeleteYou can criticise a spanish inquisitor without resorting to arguments for or against religious freedom. You're confusing the issue.
I don't really regard "politically correct" as an insult. For me, to be called "politically correct" is just another way of saying that I behave like a "gentleman" (to use a more old-fashioned term). I treat "politically correct" as a compliment (even if it's not offered as such).
DeleteI'm not advocating that we restrict the rights of bigots. I'm just saying that I don't feel any particular responsibility to defend their rights, as I would feel such a responsibility in the case of a person with something positive to offer. I do feel a responsibility to criticise and lampoon the views of bigots. (Particularly following the recent death of the great comic actor Warren Mitchell - a.k.a. "Alf Garnett" - taking the mickey out of bigots is a sacred and solemn role in our society, and one I take very seriously.)
By the way, I usually don't bother responding to anonymous comments.