Jones Alley
it's called religious freedom
Religious nutjobs, particularly of the Catholic variety best exemplified by William Donohue, are all up-in-arms about the silly movie adaptation of the best-selling "The DaVinci Code." I don't think I can count the amount of times I have heard somebody on the news channels railing against the producers of the film for "attacking" or "insulting" their religious notions and not "respecting" their preferred brand of superstition.
These are mostly the same people that I have seen vehemently attack atheism and atheists and attribute vile motivations to them simply because of their lack of god-belief. As an atheist, an American, and a person of high self-imposed ethical standards, I'd like to explain this one more time.
The United States of America has as one of its basic tenets, the notion that people are free to pursue whatever religious belief they choose, including none.
Nobody is required to respect any religion. If you feel that people are attacking your religion, that's just too bad. I am under no obligation to have any reverence for your religious ideas and you are not required to respect my lack of belief. I will support to the death your right to believe as you wish, and in return, you are required to support my right to not believe. I can mock your religion and call it stupid with no penalty and you can mock my lack of religion. The moment this nation requires respect for religion and religiosity but tolerates disrespect for the non-religious is the moment that it ceases being the United States.
This country intentionally has a secular form of government.
Deal with it.
Meanwhile, don't bitch about my offenses against you while you are simultaneously insulting me for my lack of god-belief.
These are mostly the same people that I have seen vehemently attack atheism and atheists and attribute vile motivations to them simply because of their lack of god-belief. As an atheist, an American, and a person of high self-imposed ethical standards, I'd like to explain this one more time.
The United States of America has as one of its basic tenets, the notion that people are free to pursue whatever religious belief they choose, including none.
Nobody is required to respect any religion. If you feel that people are attacking your religion, that's just too bad. I am under no obligation to have any reverence for your religious ideas and you are not required to respect my lack of belief. I will support to the death your right to believe as you wish, and in return, you are required to support my right to not believe. I can mock your religion and call it stupid with no penalty and you can mock my lack of religion. The moment this nation requires respect for religion and religiosity but tolerates disrespect for the non-religious is the moment that it ceases being the United States.
This country intentionally has a secular form of government.
Deal with it.
Meanwhile, don't bitch about my offenses against you while you are simultaneously insulting me for my lack of god-belief.
posted by Milo Johnson at 1:49 PM
1 Comments:
It has been a while since I read the book, and I wasn't all that impressed at that. I read "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" when it first came out, so Dan Brown's ideas were nothing new to me. However, the only group I remember seeing bashed beyond (heh) redemption was the Opus Dei, and, last I read, mainstream Catholics weren't real wild about them, either.
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