Stumble it!Tolerance
posted in Religion by themaiden |There has been a recent flurry of acrimony– let’s call it ‘debate’– over militant atheism, angry atheism, and outspoken atheism, with one side holding the position that ‘religion is ridiculous’, the other claiming ‘uh-uh… its not’, and voices at various points between arguing for various degrees of moderation.
It ought to be obvious, from the title of this blog, where I stand. Consequently, I find the word ‘tolerance’ being thrown at me rather a lot. I am intolerant, the charge goes.
Not true.
I am not going to burn any churches, or lynch congregants. Nor will I egg the cars in the parking lots, or organize protests out front on Sunday morning. I won’t paint pentagrams on the alter. I’m not going to try to ban Bibles, or outlaw preachers. I’m not going to force Christians to wear scarlet letters or impose heavy taxes on Christian owned businesses. In short, I don’t intend the religious any harm. That is tolerance.
Tolerance is an action. It is behavior, conscious or unconscious, that allows people of varying beliefs to coexist within a community.
However, this is not what is meant when people accuse me of being intolerant.
What is meant, is…
“Shut Up!”
What is meant is…
“You should not express your opinion because it is hurtful to me.”
What is meant is…
“You do not have the right to that opinion since it contradicts my opinion.”
What is meant is…
“You should let me express my opinion without rebuttal, without obstruction, while keeping your own opinion to yourself.”
What is implied is…
“Mine is the correct opinion, and yours isn’t.”
What is implied is…
“I have the right to vocalize and evangalize my opinions, but you do not.”
What is implied is…
“Religion deserves special status.”
The reaction it is intended to provoke is…
“You are a bad person and there is something wrong with you for disbelieving my chosen ideology; and there is something very wrong and mean and nasty about you for having the nerve and gaul to evangalize that disbelief.”
I am not that kind of tolerant, and I suspect that I shall never be that kind of tolerant. Such tolerance really isn’t tolerance at all. Perhaps I should say, such exhortations to tolerance really aren’t about tolerance at all. They are the opposite. They are attempts to silence the opposition, to suppress dissent. They are bullying based in an assumption of privilege, and attempt to shame, embarass, or otherwise pressure dissenting opinions out of the public debate.
Sorry, no dice. Religion is ridiculous and it is ridiculous for the same reasons that believing in the monster under the bed is ridiculous.
Now, as a six year old I invoked an unseen entity– the thing under the bed– and refused to go to sleep. I was told, by my devout parents, to look under the bed. I looked. They looked. They told me, apparently not realizing the implications for their faith, that if I couldn’t see it or hear it or touch it, then it isn’t there and can’t hurt me.
And I reserve the right to say so. I won’t shoot you in the street, and I won’t shove pamphlets into your hands as you go about your daily business, but nor will I be silent.
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