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Originally Posted by scaeagles
Religious bigotry is religious bigotry. I don't care if someone has Islamic or Mormon or Pagan or whatever influences in their history (or their present). There is no doubt that the religious influence in their lives will affect their decision making. It is part of who they are. The solution is the ballot box, and the courts to rule on the Constitutionality of what is passed based on the (mythical in my mind, but accepted) separation of church and state.
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First, I will admit that that way an awfully poor choice of wording on my part. So, let me see if I can clear things up a bit, since, in my opinion, bigotry is one hell of an accusation and an unfounded one. Let me be perfectly clear here. I harbor no ill will towards any religion, None. but there is one little caveat.
I do have a problem with being told that I must subscribe to the teachings of ANY religion that I do not care to. Every person has a right to believe what they want. They do not have the right to make others follow those same beliefs. Religion should be a personal thing, between you and god. If, for example, you believe that abortion is wrong, you should have every right to never be forced to have one. Don't eat pork? Nobody should ever force you to. Don't believe that gay people should be married? Don't marry a gay person. That doesn't mean that you should be able to dictate what others are allowed to do, based on your religious beliefs.
If I don't eat pork, that should never mean that nobody else can either. This is the major problem I have with religion in general. You can tell me what your religion says and I think that is perfectly acceptable. Better yet, you can show by example and if I feel that your beliefs would make a positive impact on my life, I just might give them a closer look. IMO, that is where the influence should end. If more people kept their religion personal, without trying to convert others or pass legislation that forces others to accept their views, I would have zero problems with religion.
But see, I don't believe that this is "one nation under god". I don't believe that having a relationship with a member of the same sex is sending me to some dark hole filled with demons. I don't believe that cells in a petri dish are a human life. And I don't feel that I should be forced to just accept these imposed beliefs, from a religion that I do not subscribe to.
And I would really rather that politicians, who are probably one of the most corrupt and immoral batch of humans on the planet, not be involved in dictating their own personal moral code, which most are obviously having a hard enough problem following in their own lives. I don't see much of difference between saying that gays shouldn't be allowed to marry than I do hearing that blacks should sit at the back of the bus. If anything, people use their religious beliefs to justify their own bigotry, their own prejudice. If there is one place that they shouldn't be allowed to do that, it is when they are making laws that affect millions of people who do not subscribe to their own beliefs.
I hear all of the politicians on the religious right tell me that life is sacred, ad nausium. And yet, these same politicians make decisions that kill thousands upon thousands of innocent people in needless wars. They slow the progress of medical research to a crawl that could save millions of lives. Maybe if they practiced what they preached, others like myself would see the good in their belief system, rather than the blatant hypocracy of it.
So again, you will never hear me say that a person doesn't have a right to follow whatever religious beliefs they deem neccessary to lead their own lives. And, I will not look down on them for following those beliefs. But when you go from a set of beliefs that you use to govern your own life to a set of beliefs that everyone should follow, we have a problem, because for me to accept your beliefs, I also have to accept belief in your God. I cannot make myself believe something that I don't.
And when you try to legislate things based on your own belief system, you are in essence saying "My personal take on religion is the right one and everyone elses is wrong". It suggests that nobody should have the right to believe anything other than what you believe and, IMO, that crosses the line.
Bigotry is a hatred or intolerance for those who are different. That doesn't describe me. You can be as different as your heart desires and I will neither hate you, nor refuse to tolerate you. We can all live together happily ever after. Just don't tell me that I have to be different just like you.