Part 1 of the "Show some goddamn respect people!" series
TL:DR jpeg:
Recently I saw
someone trolling a post in one of the Atheist Communities, they made
the claim that the US constitution does not provide protection to
atheists, because “it's freedom of exercise, if you don't have a
faith, then it doesn't apply.”
This
perplexed me; many religions don't follow all practices, so the
protection is that those practices are not enforced, right?
To the internet!
I found many references in the writings
of our founding fathers, in respect to the first amendments freedom
of religion. Some included the famous Jefferson quote of a “wall
of separation between the church and the state.” Surprisingly
though, was the number of references to the Muslim religion.
Historical context tells us that the
Muslim world was universally hated by much of Europe. They had
achieved domination over much of the worlds trade, their interest in
science and mathematics had given them a leg up on technology, and
their religion spread like wildfire, primarily in peaceful
interactions with the known world.
To the founding fathers, the true test
of a nation exercising a freedom of religion was the freedom of
Muslims to practice their religion. Franklin suggested building a
temple that would be open for people of all religions to worship in
their own way (whether or not this was sarcastic is up to the
interpreter, because let's be honest, it was Benji Franklin after
all.)
What caught my attention was the number
of references to “the infidel.” A quick search revealed that
historically, and in context, infidel means one without faith. So it
was agreed by the founding fathers that the freedom of religion,
should also apply to those without faith, or Atheists.
I started thinking of Jim Jones. A
self proclaimed apostolic Marxist, atheist/agnostic who was
responsible for the greatest loss of American lives, prior to the
attacks on September 11th. Jim Jones used religion to
achieve his desire to spread his warped concept of Marxism.
Then my mind started to wander to other
such evil peoples, who used god, superstition, religion and fear to
spread their destructive ideals.
The problem isn't religion, it's that
some religious people tend to reward extremist beliefs, and that that
Pavlovian reward system makes those extremist more vocal. Take the
Westbourough church, in the context of toddlers. To a toddler,
negative attention is still attention, and giving a toddler negative
attention encourages them to continue to act out, so that they
continue to get the attention they so desire.
Truly, as I see it, atheists and
theists have a common enemy. Religious extremists. The attacks of
September 11th, were not performed by every Muslim, it was
performed by a few Islamic extremists. The Holocaust was symptomatic
of a centuries old distrust carried out under the guise of “for god
and country.” Jonestown was an atheists using religious fear to
exact control.
Which brought me back to the founding
fathers of the US. Did the founding fathers intend for the first
amendment to exist in a vacuum? An ideal utopia, where no one would
ever dare to load a u-haul with explosives and blow up a federal
building, in the name of God and country? If so, then freedom of
religion is flawed, and should be considered as an unachievable goal.
Or, Did they take into consideration, seeing that they came from the
oppressive rule of the King, and Church of England the evils that
religions are capable of? If that's the case, then the freedom of
religion is still flawed, since it was written to protect extremists,
and religious oppression.
I believe that it was written as an
important part of being a civilized people. That the free exercise
of religion is something that need be upheld by it's people.
Therefore it is in the best interest of the people to regulate the
crazies. To stop the cycle of abuse within religions. To know how
to protect ones worship, while preventing tragedies committed in the
name of god. It is all peoples responsibility, atheist, theists,
Baptists, Evangelical, Catholic, Shi’ite, Buddhists,
Zoroastianists, Janists, and Pagans. We are not each others enemy, we
are fighting the same battle. It's about time that we started acting
like it.
As atheists, we should know better.
Coming from a place, where we are treated poorly, we shouldn't
actively attempt to treat others in the same way.
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