Religion has been part of our society for centuries. A user asked the forum, “Do you want to make religion illegal?” Here are the top responses.
END RELIGION’S PERKS AND PRIVILEGES
“Nope, I have no desire to criminalize religion; that’s just silly. But I do have a powerful desire to end religion’s perks and privileges in the law and society. Not to mention a steel wall between religion and taxpayer dollars.”
EDUCATE PEOPLE ABOUT CRITICAL THINKING
“Of course not; I want to educate people in critical thinking so they get themselves out of it.”
SUBMIT TAX FORMS
“No. What I do want is for churches to submit tax forms just like charities so that their tax-free, not-for-profit status can be evaluated.”
SEPARATE FROM THE STATE
“No, religion shouldn’t be illegal, but it should be kept strictly separate from the State.”
CRIMINALIZE BEHAVIORS LIKE INFANT MUTILATION
“No, but I would criminalize behaviors like infant genital mutilation.”
INDOCTRINATING CHILDREN SHOULD BE ILLEGAL
“Indoctrinating children should be illegal. An adult can do as they please.”
I OPPOSE STATE ATHEISM
“No! I oppose state atheism as strongly as I oppose theocracy. Outlawing religion is not only a very evil act that can result in death and destruction, but it is also doubtful to be effective at doing anything other than uniting the religion.”
BAN PROSELYTIZING ANYWHERE IN PUBLIC
“If I were re-writing the United States Constitution, I’d still keep the freedom to practice any religion, but I would remove their blanket tax-exempt status and ban proselytizing anywhere in public.”
IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL IN PUBLIC
“I think it should be illegal in public the same way being naked is. You can be religious in your own home on your property and particular places in the public space (like how Nude Beaches exist). Other than that, no one needs to ‘see’ your religiousness.
Tax the churches. Take the churches away from the ones harboring inappropriate feelings towards children and abusers and turn them into something useful like homeless homes or soup kitchens.
Ban religion from having control of any schools, hospitals/medical offices, and orphanages. So sick of it all.”
IT IS IRRELEVANT
“I would prefer irrelevant rather than illegal.”
IT IS TOXIC
“I want people to leave religion because it is toxic. I don’t want to become toxic to get people out of religion.”
IT WOULD BE STUPID
“No, that would be monumentally stupid (plus, abuse of people’s rights).”
FREEDOM TO CHOOSE
“No. I dream of a world where every human is free to do whatever non-harmful thing that they want, including having the ability to choose and adhere to any religion they want.
Where nobody does because we’ve all chosen to rid ourselves of silly superstitions, that’s my ideal.”
IT CAN NOT BE ENFORCED
“I am an anti-theist, and I believe making religion illegal would do far, far more harm than good. Most outspoken theists already have a persecution complex. Also, how would this be enforced?”
PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO THEIR FAITH
“No, people have the right to their faith just as I have the right to lack faith.”
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This article was originally published on Mrs. Daaku Studio.