Wednesday, December 21, 2011

SHAME UPON YOU

I am constantly astonished at the seeming lack of shame and lack of education that people display.


There is a woman named Anne Rice who is a famous  author.  She has her own page on Facebook.  On this page she stands up against bigotry and prejudice in all its forms.Yet many of those who post there do so to lambast her for targeting, so they say, specific groups of people!

Like today she published a link to a story regarding a commotion on a bus in Israel because religious men wanted the woman sitting in the front seat on the bus to go to the back of the bus. Yes, I kid you not. 

Not only was I appalled at the amount of people that criticise this woman instead of the men, but also those who accuse Anne of being anti-Semite just because she published this link!

It is the same when she publishes stories regarding the horrendous abuse of children by the Roman Catholic church and other groups.  More people seem to write in denigrating her for her so-called attacks on religion rather than showing any care at all for the abused children.

People constantly try to shut her up.  They lie about her. They write the  most vile tripe against her. The worst of these are the religious fundamentalists. No surprises there then.

Her page shows very clearly how it works. How evil does what it can to turn off the light. It is clear that Ms Rice cares very deeply for people, that she discriminates not against people but against behaviours and ideas. People, some deliberately, some because they are too stupid, do not see the difference between ideas and people.

We each have the right to have our beliefs, to believe anything we want. What we do not have the right to respect for it. By that I mean respect for our beliefs. NO WAY!  It is wrong to expect other people to behave in accordance with your religious belief. Completely wrong. It is not right to demand that other people observe or even respect your religious beliefs. 

Marriage is a social contract that protects the individuals involved. It has nothing to do with religion. I don't care what your religious beliefs are, you do NOT have the right to have your version of marriage  hold sway. This is why in many countries marriage can be between those of the same sex as well as those of the opposite sex. So it should be. It is NOT your business. A person's religious beliefs should never encroach on equality for all and a person's liberty.

It is NOT an affront to your liberty or freedom when you are denied the power to impose your religious beliefs upon others. It is a stand for human rights when you are prevented from doing so. It would be an affront to you if you were prevented from having your places of congregation to share in an idea. It would be wrong to discriminate against you in the field of work, or anywhere, but that does NOT mean that your observances must be met. No way. Once again, you cannot demand respect for your ideas. None. So if it is against your belief to work at a particular hour or place, then do not get a job that requires it. 

In this country is is illegal to slaughter animals inhumanely unless you are Jewish or Islamic! This makes a complete mockery of the anti cruelty laws! If humanely slaughtered animals mean it would offend your religious ideas to eat the meat, then DON'T! But do not demand the law be broken for your ideas! It is already broken here in the UK, shame on those who allowed it.

Far far too much is being giving to religionists. We are giving away our liberty, our freedom. We see what happens when religion takes precedence-Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iran. Yet look at what is 
happening in the USA. A slow but sure turn to that type of government. People with the extreme religious views are gaining power. People are falling for it. They are, and this is really the most shameful and unbelievable thing, VOTING for it! Oh right now they just think that it will be us homosexuals who will be got rid of-make no mistake-Perry, Bachmann et al want us dead-but it will soon be YOU they do not like because you don't observe well enough, or the right way, or your skin is not quite the right shade, or your eyes are the wrong colour, or your accent is not right or because God only loves them not YOU.

And you know what? You will have asked for it. You will have deserved it. Yes, when your liberty has gone, when you can no longer think as you please, when you are controlled by a religious government, told what to think, to say, to eat, to wear, you will have no one to blame but yourselves.

Which side are you going to be on? Yours? Or the enemy's? Because if you are against me and my kind, or people of different ethnic or religious backgrounds, or different tongues, different skin, think that women should be told what to do with their bodies, think women should be subservient to men as a matter of course, think children are property, then you are on the side that is against YOU! If you think your religious ideas ought to be law, then you are against yourself. It really is that simple. You cannot hate just 'them'. By so doing, you hate ALL and you will pay the price. No doubt about that.

None at all.

3 comments:

valerieB Canada said...

Exactly!

Julia Ergane said...

It is not true that kosher butchers or the equivalent Muslim butchers make the beasts suffer. This is actually quite the lie from the factory-run operations which highly stress the animals. These animals are also considered to be sacrifices, so they must be honoured as such. This is from a very ancient way of thinking which many of us have lost over the centuries. I am not either Jewish or Muslim; however, I am a member of Hellenion, a group of people reconstructing the ancient polytheistic world view of the ancient Hellenes.

Herzblut said...

Julia,

thank you