No, you are wrong about me. I'm not that kind of guy!
I'm by no means a lecture travelling, zealously preaching and insufferably annoying 24/7 Anti theist. There are people with far more time and who are get better payed doing that, and doing it very very well.
In general i am reasonably capable of going through life with enough restraint to keep from offending certain people deeply. Some or most assume i respect their beliefs and convictions or at least their right to hold them. Others assume, more accurately but still erroneously, that i don't care or don't have an opinion one way or the other.
This, in general, is fine with me and i feel little cause to correct such notions. In general, most of the time, that is the case.
However
There are moments though, like this moment right now, that i feel an irrepressible urge to shake off my self restraint. I feel an inexplicable need to express how i feel and what i think in a manner that leaves no room for interpretation or misunderstanding and meticulously defines my view and my convictions about not only the beliefs and convictions others have and hold dear but, maybe even more importantly, about those who hold those beliefs and convictions.
This moment is not a singular incident or whim, nor will i regret the article that it spawns. I will not recant nor nuance anything this article will say or try to mitigate its content or consequences or make excuses for anything in it. This moment is the crescendo of years of slowly accumulating pressure from irritation, infuriating anger, in-credulousness, repression and deeply felt offense perpetrated by the multitudes of people, groups, organizations, traditions and denominations either with or without their conscious awareness of the infliction of injury to my being they're committing.
I am very irritating to contradict
Now don't misunderstand, those who know me have no illusions about my opinions, beliefs and convictions. Those who know me well enough almost without exception agree with me to some degree or know enough about me to know its best not get into a debate or discussion with me. Not because i'm unreasonable, aggressive, violent or insufferable but because they know i believe what i believe and think what i think for solid and scientifically founded reason. I never believe anything or hold any conviction without being able to explain why or possessing the knowledge required to arrive at those beliefs and convictions. On top of that i am also capable of articulation that knowledge or explanation while ruthlessly reveling any flaw in the arguments or reasoning presented in opposition to that knowledge or understanding.
I am exceptionally knowledgeable on the topic of RELIGION!
So, even though this article is at this point over three thousand characters long, i feel i need to start it by explaining something before going into the core of what i wish to express in this article.
Warning: NSFT and NSFSJW (not safe for Theists and Not Safe for Social Justice Warriors)
That something is that i'm going to argue, vehemently, against some of modern western civilization's most fundamental and cherished principles. Some will even question if this article should be allowed to be publicly accessible, and consider it in violation of moral or even constitutional fundamental laws.
I can only hope that those who do can summon the courage and strength to read the article in its entirety, and that by the end of it they understand the reasoning behind it. That they maybe even understand that for our society, our civilization, to overcome the problems and recover from the damage that civilization has suffered, and continues to suffer, from religion there is no other way than to end the extraordinary perception of it as something like a fundamental human right.
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is, in most of the civilized world, considered a fundamental principle upon which all of our civilization was built. In fact most of the constitutions of modern civilized countries have that freedom of religion mentioned or defined in the first paragraphs or articles. For example the Constitution of the Netherlands mentions religion in the second sentence of the very first article and dedicates article 6 to the freedom of religion completely:
Article 1 states:
All persons in the Netherlands shall be treated equally in equal
circumstances. Discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, political
opinion, race or sex or on any other grounds whatsoever shall not be
permitted.
and Article 6 states:
1. Everyone shall have the right to profess freely his religion or belief,
either individually or in community with others, without prejudice to his
responsibility under the law.
2. Rules concerning the exercise of this right other than in buildings and
enclosed places may be laid down by Act of Parliament for the protection
of health, in the interest of traffic and to combat or prevent disorders.
The German constitution dedicates articles 3 and 4 entirely to the freedom of religion. The deceleration of human rights by the United Nations contains reference to freedom of religion in its preamble and is defined in article 18.
And the same is true for most civilized nations on Earth. In the US religion is not mentioned in the constitution itself but the first amendment (Article 1 of the US Bill of Rights) is more or less dedicated to the freedom of religion.
Religion is considered to be so important that a country, a nation, cannot successfully exist or function without the freedom of religion being specifically guaranteed in its most sacred (pun intended) laws.
It is the opposite!
Well, thát freedom of religion is the first thing i am calling into question, as it is one of the foundations of the evil, wretched and despicable consequences of religion in the world in which we live today. It is because of this position that religion has staked out for its self over the millennia the atrocities and evil humanity has suffered throughout its history was not only possible but perhaps even inevitable.
But it is not those history making events of unspeakable evil like genocide, prosecution, oppression or exploitation that makes me ever more disgusted by and opposed to religion, as well as ever more intolerant to the actions and influence religious men and women have in modern society.
It is the one sided, almost deliberate, blatant disregard and denial of that freedom of religion for one group of people that every single society has. One group that every nation on Earth is certain to have among its population, a claim no religion can or could ever truthfully make. Freedom of religion has yet to be granted to those who are not religious. Atheists have never, unto this day, enjoyed freedom of religion. I pose to you that this fact upon itself proves that religion is an injustice by definition and oppressive through simply existing.
For an Atheist freedom of religion means it is prohibited by law to peruse and facilitate the progression towards a life that is free FROM religion. An atheist's desire is to live life without influence of any kind from religion. An atheist wants to live life without religion to be any consideration in anything, ever. That of course is an anathema to the very concept of religion. A religious person desires everything in life to be based upon the tenets of their faith. Everything is judged first according to what their religion proscribes to be the rules and commandments laid upon them by their god or gods. A theist cannot conceive of anything without first considering their deities wishes. A large number of theists in fact consider the laws of their religion to supersede the laws of man.
That makes the freedom of religion for theists, and that of the atheists to be in direct conflict with one and other. The fundamental requirements of the one are a violation of the fundamental requirements of the other. Only one can be granted, thereby violating the other.
In part II i shall expand upon the implications of that direct opposition between the theist and atheist freedom of religion, and introduce the driver for the second argument for eradication of religion from existence.
(Part II coming soon)