Respect:
1. To feel or show deferential regard for; esteem.
2. To avoid violation of or interference with: respect the speed limit.
3. To relate or refer to; concern.
More and more I am hearing about non-respect (not disrespect) of people’s religious beliefs.I think H.L. Mencken came close when he said, “We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children are smart.”
Ed from Hokum-Balderdash Assay says:
“What I’d like more clarification from the religious is what exactly does respect entail. Does it mean others should not criticize their supernatural beliefs? Does it mean we can’t nitpick their beliefs ever, even in our writings, blogs, discussion boards, etc.? Or does it simply mean we’re supposed to smile and nod our heads when we’re face to face with them, but otherwise we can do as we please?
I really don’t understand why beliefs that are merely born out of fantasy and wishful thinking and are bereft of any grounding in reality can possibly merit respect and should be immune to critique and investigation. And I thought they (at the least the Christians) hold truth in high regard. Apparently, what they hold sacred is not the search for truth, but rather dogma (and beliefs that make them feel good).”
Vjack from Atheist Revolution had this to say:
“Christians seem to think that their religious beliefs deserve respect, even from persons who do not share them. “You don’t have to believe what I do,” they say, “but you should at least respect my beliefs.” Why? I happen to think that I can defend your right to believe as you wish without having even a trace of respect for what you believe. Moreover, I can respect you as a person without respecting your religious beliefs.
The truly interesting thing is that many religious moderates, freethinkers, and atheists share this viewpoint that religious beliefs should be respected. In other words, many non-Christians would agree that it is okay for me not to share your beliefs as long as I still respect them. Whether this perspective comes from politeness, a desire to avoid conflict, a fear of retribution, or some other source, it remains a powerful factor maintaining religious belief. It erects a force field around religion, preventing meaningful criticism from entering.
The question that needs to be asked is whether your religious beliefs deserve respect. That they are your beliefs or that they are religious in nature is irrelevant here. I happen to be convinced that your belief in a personal god who hear your prayers, intervenes in the world, etc. is both delusional and harmful to the world we share. Delusional because it is maintained in the face of overwhelming contradictory evidence and harmful because it promotes irrationality and conflict. In other words, your religious beliefs do not warrant respect. Telling me that I should respect your religious beliefs is comparable to claiming that I should respect the racist beliefs of a white supremacist.
I have to laugh at your implicit expectation that Christmas means anything to me whatsoever. If you want to celebrate, please do so. In fact, I wish you the best and hope that your celebration is wonderful. Seriously. But don’t make the mistake of assuming that I will be celebrating with you. You claim, “It’s not enough to ignore and omit Christmas, but now it has to be offended, insulted and desecrated. Our most sacred holiday, actually a holy day, is being assaulted.” But you must remember that your sacred day does not mean anything to me at all. I see no reason to pretend that it does.
When you put absurd beliefs into the public form, they will be criticized. It is okay to “bash” your religious beliefs. These beliefs are not sacred to me, so do not expect me to pretend that they are. Your religious beliefs are delusional and destructive, making them undeserving of respect. As I continue to speak out against them, please recognize that I am not attacking you. I can still respect you without respecting your religious beliefs at all. I have no interest in condemning you. Rather, I hope that you will eventually come to recognize the many fatal flaws in these beliefs and adopt a more reality-based belief system.”
So what do you think? How far do we have to go in respecting others’ beliefs? And not just Christians, because here in America we have many, many different religions. Are they all entitled to the same respect that Christians want and feel they deserve? Or is Christianity different because after all we are a “Christian Nation?”
Read this story by Stardust from a comment on Atheist Revolution:
My niece, who went off to Alaska with her pastor wannabe husband to isolate themselves on Kodiak Island to be away from the “evil world” is one of those people who dictates what is proper and not proper to send her or to talk about with her but she sends religious stuff to us and we are supposed to “respect” it. (I respect it with the delete button or right into the trash bin usually).
I am not touchy about receiving an xmas card with religious theme artwork, however, I do take offense when someone who knows that I am an atheist blatantly sends me a baby Jeebus card and a lengthy card about letting Jeebus into my heart or how love is not real without Jeebus and that only those who are obedient to their imaginary friend can truly be happy. The letter was full of god this and god that and god sent his little baby son to die for us, etc. So, I decided enough was enough and I sent her a message and wrote it as nicely as I could.
I told her that I am glad that they think of us and thanks for the info about the kids, but would she please not send overly religious emails and messages to me in the future. It was worded pretty much how she sends me stuff about “Please don’t send me those jokes, I find them offensive” or “remove your Navajo Indian quote from the bottom of your email before sending”…there are too many to keep track of and usually I go along with it so as not to “offend” them.
Well…after she got this message from me with my request to curb the religious stuff, she went off the deep end. Her husband wrote me a two-page rant and basically said that I am disrespectful of what they live for and he will allow no more communication from me and my family! That is a bit extreme when all I was asking is that they show me the same consideration that they expect to be shown. If I had sent them an atheist card and wrote how wonderful life is since doing away with religion, they would have popped a few blood vessels!
My niece did send me one more email and said that since she and god are one and if she can’t mention god then she has nothing to say more to me.
The sad thing is this is all so unnecessary.
Respect:
- To have a high opinion of: admire, consider, esteem, honor, regard, value.
- To recognize the worth, quality, importance, or magnitude of: appreciate, cherish, esteem, prize1, treasure, value.
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January 8th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Your new theme looks great! I’m sorry it doesn’t look so great in Internet Explorer. Was there any support of any kind that came with this theme?