Explain To Me...

Can someone out there explain to me just how your religion makes you better than someone else?

I am not being flip.  I would really like to hear someone lay out how their religious tenets make them secure in the belief that discrimination is right.  Worse, A RIGHT that should be afforded them.

With each passing day, more religion based discrimination bills are being introduced throughout this land where supposedly "all men are created equal."  That we have legislation moving through the systems in Arizona, Virginia, Idaho (among others) that would legalize the blatant dehumanization of American citizens is simply shameful.  That we are literally sliding backwards to the days when there were separate water fountains for black people, separate seating areas for them, is unconscionable.  That so many think it is ok to replace "black" with "homosexual" is stunning. 

It is 2014.  What are we doing?  Allowing to be done?  We truly seem to be living out the maxim that "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

A bill sits waiting for Governor Brewer in Arizona to turn it into a law.  It would allow the outright marginalization of anyone who is LGBT.  Businesses would be allowed to refuse service to those who are homosexual based on their owners' "deeply held religious beliefs."  (Sorry, but most business owners have one deeply held belief:  $$, and if this passes they will soon see there is no profit in bigotry.)

Stop for a moment and think this through.  You and your lovely family go into Applebee's to eat dinner.  The waitress comes up to greet you and asks, "Do you believe in God?"  You say "Yes."  She says, "Get out. We don't serve folk like you."

Hell, make it even simpler.  Your hair is brown.  "Get out."  You wear Nike tennis shoes.  "Get out."  You have a tattoo.  "Get out."  Your eyes are green.  "Get out."  You're fat.  "Get out."  You're thin.  "Get out."

It is not any different than this legislation that picks out one component of a person and legalizes discrimination based on it.

Idaho has legislation so broad that it would allow doctors to refuse to treat homosexuals since it would interfere with them "living out their faith."  Excuse me?  How about living out their Hippocratic Oath?  Perhaps those doctors misunderstood and thought it was the Hypocritic oath.

I need someone to explain to me how this thinking makes us any different than Uganda, which just passed even more rigid antihomosexual legislation on Monday.  The President of that country called homosexuals "disgusting," and trumpeted that being gay is not a right.

How is your religious behavior and imposing of your beliefs on others any different than the Taliban?  What's that?  It just is?  Sorry, but you are wrong.  These bills, this thinking, are EXACTLY THE SAME.  It's the legitimization of Westboro Baptist think.

The common denominator at the base of the Taliban and all of these made-in-the-USA bills and bloviating is religion.

For instance, a bill is moving through the Alabama legislature that would require teachers to spend no more than 15 minutes in the first class of each day leading the class in Christian prayer.

Seriously?  What about the children who are not Christian?  What if the teacher is not?  This kind of thinking, persecution, encroaching upon another's will is why this country got started in the first place.  People left and crossed the sea to establish a land where they were not threatened with how to worship, penalized for lack of worship.

This belief that somehow what you believe is more important, more right than what someone else believes; that what you believe somehow makes you better, annointed, blessed; that you have the right to enter another person's life and legislate how they love, live, worship?

It is sick. 

There is no nicer word to put to it.  It is sick.  And when religion is allowed to get this out of hand, to ooze this deeply into our legislative process, is must be called what it is:  A SICKNESS. 

And like any life threatening sickness, it must be eradicated. 

The vaccination is education.  The shot is openmindedness.  The elixer is kindness.  The cure is, oddly enough, found in that book that is so often hidden behind and warped to inflict as much pain as possible on others. 

That whole "love thy neighbor as thyself" business? 

Explain to me how these bills, this dangerous thinking, this blasphemous move to speak for God follows anything close to those words, the life Jesus lived, the word he preached.  Explain to me how Jesus died so that you could go on living out these monumental sins of hatred, bigotry, separation, exclusion, hubris, and self exultation.

Seriously, if nothing else, explain to me that last one.  Explain to me how you are better.

Anyone?  Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...

Comments

[Nikki in NYC]

Surely this is unconstitutional? This will not hold up (either the anti-gay laws or the prayer requirement) in the Supreme Court where both will land if passed. There will be a hell of a backlash that will hit AZ hard in the pocket. What the hell is wrong with people these days? I thought we killed Jim Crow years ago. I think reading the Constitution (or having it read to you, if you can't read, which is possible with this bunch) should be a requirement before taking office. Honestly, this country gets dumber every day.

[Lynn in Colorado]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/religion

[Chicky]

I had a recurring dream when I was much younger and was questioning my faith. In the dream, I was wandering around in a garden and asking everyone I met what the meaning of life was...pretty soon everyone in the garden was chanting, "The meaning of life is love, the meaning of life is love." I had this dream about a dozen times, and every time I woke up I felt like I had the answer, and I felt at peace. I have tried to live my life with that in mind...now I know I'm not perfect, and there have been more times that I'd care to admit that I haven't "loved my neighbor", but I believe with all my heart that this is the way that God wants us to live our lives. People who "quote" the bible saying, "God hates _______" are not quoting the bible or anything God ever said or felt, they are quoting their fear, their insecurities and their hatred. I feel sorry for them, because I feel strongly that when they reach the pearly gates and St Peter questions their lives, they will be firmly turned away.

[Joanne]

Ya know part of me kinda hopes Brewer signs this atrocity of a bill. The backlash which has already started will be spectacular. This is the same kind of bill we criticised Putin's Russia for. Anyways I kinda hope she signs it so she and all the other wingnuts out there can see what real progressive rage can be. George Takei has already called for a boycott of Arizona, said he spends time there every yr since his spouse is from there.

But the hoping she signs it is not a good thought for me. Partly because I DO wish people would learn that you cannot, absolutely cannot legislate morality despite what you might think. I thought Prohibition was an excellent example. Some 'Christian' groups got up in everyone's business and got booze outlawed, and indirectly helped the mafia get a toehold on our economy. Good job.

So now they want to turn back the clock so they can discriminate based on their religious beliefs? All I can say is 'get outta here'. And of course the everpopular, 'this will not end well'.

[Shannon's Mom]

Religion is man made....and man is not perfect. Being spiritual is very different than being religious. I reject religion...but I am very spiritual. Jesus came for EVERYBODY...and loves EVERYBODY. Everyone of us has some area in our life that is not perfect (read...many areas).

God was pretty smart when he told us NOT to Judge....and Jesus taught us that too....by example. He disregarded the religious leaders and they hated him for it and eventually killed him for it. Love is the most powerful thing there is. Love IS God.

I love everyone....even people who really p-ss me off. I can be very angry at someone but when I look at them from several steps away, they are still human, still my brothers and sisters...I picture if they were in an accident ...would I help them....and the anger becomes unimportant to how I feel....I am filled with feelings of helpfulness and love....of course I would help them....and I know God loves them so it diffuses our differences.

If people could just judge less and love a lot more...well...we'd be close to paradise already.

[Theresa in Virginia]

I believe that we elect too many people to office based on their charisma or personality or money or whatever it is - certainly not their brainpower - and they don't have the intellect to look at the mountain of problems and issues that we have as a country that are not strictly social issues. They don't understand economics, they don't understand the long-term impacts of a good (or bad) education, they haven't owned a business, etc. So they revert their attentions to issues of ridiculous non-importance, such as abortion rights and gay rights, and use "religion" as the basis of their rants and ill-advised legislative attempts. Most of them couldn't tell you anything about the Bible (I'm speaking here strictly of "christians") or Jesus or real Christian doctrine and teachings. They just want some public attention and the only way they know how to get it is to rehash the same old tired issues, firing up the extreme right-wingers, while the vast majority of the citizens are just plain tired of the ridiculousness and the cheap rhetoric.

The GOP (which is where most of these folks originate from) just can't understand that the average citizen is concerned with far more important issues, which is why they are a dying breed. They still haven't figured out why they keep losing elections on a national level.

Here's a joke for you: What's the difference between a dinosaur and a Republican? Answer: One is extinct, the other is about to be.

Don't get me wrong - I don't consider myself either a Democrat or a Republican. I do consider myself a Christian. But as part of my Christian beliefs I believe that I am required to love everybody, and I believe that I am not supposed to judge people. As a human, I just accept people for who and what they are, and hope that they treat me likewise.

[Audreyf]

Get out of my head!!!! It is EXACTLY what I thought when I first heard this!What the HELL??? I'm completely stunned....

[Cindy S in Jax]

What bothers me is that so many of the right-wing nuts (and diehard religious fanatics) get up in arms over the fact that Christians are persecuted for their faith in countries where other religions rule. I just don't get how they then justify it is ok to do just that (only it's different groups of people being persecuted) in our country. Talking out of both sides of the mouth. And God help me if Ted Nugent opens his pie hole one more time.