Should I Respect Religion?

I have been criticized on any number of occasions for my lack of “respect” for religion. The admonition to “respect” religion has come not only from religious folks but even on occasion from other non-religious people.

So, what to make of this? Notice that I’ve place the word “respect” in quotes. That’s because I can’t answer this question without first establishing precisely what “respect” means.

A minimum definition of “respect” would be to simply allow religious folks to practice their religion and engage in its rituals without criticism or ridicule. In other words agree to “live and let live.” I could live with this arrangement and in many cases, such as with the Hassidic Jewish community, that’s precisely the case. I respect the Hassid’s desire to live life as they see fit. They don’t bother anybody, and pretty much ignore outsiders.

Christianity and Islam however, with their belief that spreading the faith is a paramount obligation, tend to be another story all together. In this country Christianity in particular invariably means a lot more when it says “respect” than “live and let live.” When Christians ask for “respect” then more often than not they mean reverence, admiration and, ultimately, agreement.

They want everyone to acknowledge their definition of right and wrong, everyone to acknowledge the supremacy of their Sky Daddy, whether they believe in their Sky Daddy or not, and for everyone to view faith and piety as virtues. They would also like their rituals to be celebrated publicly to universal ooohs and aaahs. Why? If Christianity is nonsense then its rituals are silly and its morality open to debate.

To some Christians disbelief becomes equated with disrespect. Atheists, agnostics and other secular humanist species which reject the fundamental Christian canon are viewed as disrespectful simply by existing. You’ll excuse me but I refuse to cease existing simply because it hurts your feelings.

Hey, wait a minute I hear you say. You’re lumping all kinds of Christians into a pot that really only contains the extreme right wing fruitcakes. Perhaps, but I don’t hear the so-called Christian Left doing anything about the fruitcakes.

Granted I tend to have problems with the Fundamentalist Evangelical species of Christian more than your neighborhood Episcopalian. But I realized a long time ago that’s it’s a blurry line and, to be honest with you, one that’s too treacherous to navigate so it’s safer to lump them all together.

So what about the idea of think whatever you want but at least be polite enough not to openly criticize or ridicule someone’s faith? Sounds like a reasonable idea except religion in general, and Christianity in particular, has never been terribly shy about criticizing anything and everything, from Harry Potter to nudity on television, that it thinks violates what it calls “sin.” I put “sin” in quotes because I’ve never really been able to understand the concept. I can understand hurting someone or stealing from someone as a “sin,” but I’ve been a little confused about a lot of the other things that get lumped into the same category.

My compromise is that I usually don’t initiate the conversation, but only react to some statement or event.

To me “respect” means more than simple tolerance. “Respect” carries with it a degree of admiration and deference. You don’t get my “respect” for free, you have to earn it. Religion doesn’t earn my respect, therefore it doesn’t get it.

That doesn’t mean I might not respect religious people. I have a healthy deference for nuns, priests, rabbis, some pastors and anyone that simply wants to practice their religion in peace. Anyone that wants to force his beliefs on me or anyone else however is going to have a serious problem.

So it’s really a mixed bag. I don’t believe in respecting religion simply because its religion. I’ve come to the rational conclusion that all religions, or at least all of the ones I’m familiar with, are absurd. Why should I respect something I find absurd? Nor can I justify respecting anyone’s belief in that absurdity. I might respect their sense of conviction and keep my mouth shut, but that’s about as far as I’ll go.

Nor do I think I’m obligated to remain silent about my opinion in forums where expressing it is appropriate. I don’t think I would stand outside a Sunday School blabbing my heathen opinions but when someone “witnesses to me” they’re going to get more than they bargained for in return.

What this all means is that I will continue to criticize and ridicule religion when I believe it’s appropriate and when something comes up which triggers a response. A lot of people don’t like that idea and would rather simply, for example, defend same sex marriage rather than attack the reason same sex marriage needs defending. Defense may win an occasional battle but it can’t win a war. To win a war you have to bring the war to the enemy. Bush was right about that, too bad he was too stupid to figure out who the enemy was!