Comments on: 8 Reasons Why Freedom of Religion is Impossible

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 11:32:43 +0000

The first three points in this are poorly thought out. OK, yes, a child raised in a (insert religion) home will be very likely to be biased towards being that religion, being more sympathetic to that religion, and not liking or understanding other religions. But that does not contradict the definition of FoR that you gave.

Pennsylvania for example, was founded and flourished on the basis of Religous Freedom. There is no LAW prohibiting being a (insert any religion). There is no LAW saying you cannot switch religions. There is no LAW saying you cannot marry someone else from another religion. Your family might shun you, you might have zero friends after you do it, and according to your religion you might be going right to hell. But you have that freedom to CHOOSE. Many people (including atheists) leave the faith of their early communities and parents. Why can they do it….FoR.

By: Patricia Robinett

Patricia Robinett — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 21:34:30 +0000

kavan, i found you by searching for ‘decimation of western morals’. i landed on your moral argument page and am now exploring your posts. i stopped here because i read this, above: “Some African religions practice scarification and female genital mutilation. The latter is among the most despicable practices I can imagine.” i just want to let you know that the reason FGM was outlawed in the US in the 1990s was because it had been practiced her for over a hundred years. blue cross blue shield insurance covered clitoridectomies until 1977. i have met several other women who were circumcised in the US, since i wrote my book. i predict that someday the circumcision of male infants will someday also go the way of spanking and stoning adulteresses… the sooner, the better as far as i am concerned, because the imprint on the human brain of that degree of pain and sense of betrayal impact the entire life… and it isn’t pretty for the adult that circumcised people become.

now i’d like to address the religious angle. there is such a thing as Life that breathes us all. that i have found that is what was being described in all world scriptures – the topic of another book of quotes i assembled that describe the experience of what happens when we turn our senses inward and see a profound inner light, love, peace, joy – much like the near-death experiences that have been described in modern books. and yes, as soon as a business and an authority structure arises around the wonder of that revelation, and the pure experience is packaged by human minds, the beauty is lost. yes, the ‘abrahamic tradition’ is very out of touch with what is natural, good, beautiful and true. cults, indeed.

i look forward to reading more of your posts.

By: Kavan Wolfe

Kavan Wolfe — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:52:43 +0000

@Heltonda,

Most religions are cults. Cult means “a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.” Christianity, Judaism and Islam, at the very least, would fit this description.

By: Heltonda

Heltonda — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 09:58:01 +0000

Hey Matt to bad Mormonism isn’t even considered a religion… it’s a Cult. So before you bash us religious people, don’t drag unwanted people into our category. All of you all say religion is a bunch of BS, well let me just say this…. if you all are right and live a life the way you want to and in the end, after you die there is no God, then hey, you got nothing to lose, BUT say I am right, and you live your life the way you want to and not according to the scripture and then in the end you die and there actually is a heaven and a hell and a God…. well then its to late.”Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. …”

Romans 13:1-7 ESV

By: The War On Bullshit » Blog Archive » Top 10 BS Statements in Obama’s Cairo Speech

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:37:29 +0000

[...] Why it’s bullshit: Freedom of religion is a contradiction in terms. [...]

By: Kavan Wolfe

Kavan Wolfe — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:44:17 +0000

@Brett, religious freedom means that you are free to practice your religion, regardless of what is entails. It’s a binary proposition, either religious freedom is guaranteed, or it’s not. It’s like freedom of speech. If you’re only free to say what you want as long as it’s government approved, you don’t have freedom of speech.

@Matt, thanks.

@Tom, good point. People should be allowed to think whatever they like, as long as they don’t break the law

@Sonjia, try telling them how offensive it is to tell atheists they will be damned to eternal torture for rejecting religious nonsense. It might now work, but it will make you feel better

@Sanity, go for it

By: Sanity at last.

Sanity at last. — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:33:41 +0000

I’m printing this to hand out to religious wackos next time they accost me.

Brilliant work.

By: Sonjia

Sonjia — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:48:52 +0000

Try explaining this to people who have strong religious beliefs , they get so offended. How can people not see that thay have been brainwashed. Religion is there to manipulate and control us. A teacher at my daughters school told her ‘god is allways watching you’ thats an indirect threat to behave or else!!!

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:16:42 +0000

That’s why I prefer “Freedom of Belief” to freedom of religion. The point of freedom of religion is that the government shouldn’t control what you think. What you do is fair game, though. God saying it’s okay doesn’t actually make it okay.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:56:33 +0000

You hit this topic spot on man, I was going to post basically what you wrote for reason #7 in the comment box but you beat me to the punch.

Does the government think it is ok for those crazy FLDS mormons to carry on like they are? Is it ok for the stupid terrorists to blow people up if they say that they did it because god told them to, or some sorry excuse like that?

And the reason for the high level of education and low crime rate for athiests? It is because they are the smart ones who have already seen through the lies preached to them about religion and know that it is nothing more than a practice started to explain what science now tells us all about and subsequently used in the middle ages to keep order in the low ranks, promising that if they play it straight in their rotten living conditions and work for their lord untill they croak, they will enjoy benefits in a life that nobody can possibly prove even exists.

Bible stories hold no more water to me than Aesop’s Fables.