Well, I believe it's high-time for me to say this: I am absolutely fed-up, sick-green-to-the-gills with religious extremists. The particular religion is irrelevant. Every religion has them, and they are veritable birds-of-a-feather as far as their attitudes towards others go -- that is to say that they despise anyone who doesn't believe precisely the same thing that the believe. The problem is not that they hate everyone who isn't in their clique, though, the problem they're dangerously deluded and disturbed individuals. This statement is a FACT (as opposed to a belief), evidenced by numerous historical instances of religious fanatics of all stripes torturing, burning and mutilating other humans they didn't like, all in the name of their religion. There really is no argument here. Millions of innocent lives have been ruined, destroyed or stamped out all-together by some other human claiming the "authority" of their beliefs.
Okay, first things first: Beliefs ARE NOT synonymous with Facts. Not even close. Not even in the same ballpark. Not even apples and oranges. The difference is far more pronounced. The construct of "Beliefs" is something of a random catch all for any thought in anyone's head that happens to stick around. Seriously: it is possible to 'believe' anything. Such is not the case for a 'fact'. A fact is something that must be proven using tangible (at least insofar as the proof goes) evidence. A fact is something that is altered in the light of new information. A belief is not subject to change in this regard.
So, to this end, religious beliefs are NOT facts, and should not be given the same precedence. It's just that simple.
As we descend deeper into the new Dark Age of Neo-feudalism, the tendency towards delusional religious fervor appears to be flying high. Religious extremism was a hallmark of the Dark Ages, of course. The Demonic Perspective was the Law of the Land, and if you violated it, you wound up shackled in a dungeon, at best, or more likely burned at the stake.
Such are the joys of religious extremism.
Thousands were tortured and killed during the Reformation, and all that was about (aside from Henry the 8th's sexual appetites) was allowing anyone other than the vetted priestly-class at the time to read the bible.
Many thousands more were tortured and killed during the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, and on and on.
Seriously, I mean, C'mon: How many times do we have to go through these periods were we as a society -- further, as a species -- allow such deluded individuals to rise through the ranks to power in our modern society? How is it even tolerated for a moment that a public official is allowed to site their religious beliefs as a reason they are unable to carry out the duties of their very public office?
The Bottom Line is that the Freedom of Religion is only possible when there is a separation of Church and State -- or, rather, a separation of Belief and Fact. That's the reason our founding father's wrote such a division in to our constitution. Religious beliefs are personal and private, and not meant for public consumption in any way, shape or form, primarily because the public-at-large isn't really amiable to the idea of having something else's gibberish shoved down there throat as the Immutable Rule of Law. So to my point: if you are so addled by religious miasma that you can't even function in society, then you really need to drop out of society.
We have been on this Wheel of Pain for more than 10,000 years, and it's time we got off. Way past time, in fact. And the most tragic part of it is this: it's insanely easy to get off this Wheel. Simple: when someone starts talking rot, you stop taking them seriously. You don't need to be mean or rude or condescending (even though they might be), you only need to realize that they're a human struggling with this daily dream we call reality. Empathy and/or sympathy is a wonderfully mammalian response. But to give these people who are so very given over to religious extremism power over the masses is bad. Very bad. Super duper bad. As evidence I cite the very colorful and maudlin crew of extremists who have emerged over the debate on "gay" marriage, and in fact have gone so far as to declare that their beliefs are more important than anything else.
Who you choose to spend your life with, just like how you choose to live your life, is nobody's business but your own. Period. I remain completely and utterly un-offended by any social construct that seeks to increase the quality of life for humanity. Quality of Life is the very foundation of "being fruitful and multiplying."
And at the End of the Day, Quality of Life is really what it's all about. Yours, mine, theirs, ours, it's all the same. The Truth is that we are all tragically flawed creatures. Again, that's a fact, and it's been a fact for a long, long time. Treating others with contempt because they see the world differently than you doesn't make you a better person. It makes you a schmuck.
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