One of the major
absurdities of modern human societies are the concept of "Freedom of
Religion" and "Separation of Church and State".
Religion is a term,
which summarizes every kind of irrational human behavior. It is the antonym of
education. When this relic of infantile behavior remains in adult human beings,
it becomes a mental disorder.
How can a mental
disorder claim freedom to be practiced? Freedom of Religion is essentially not
different from "freedom of being schizophrenic" or "freedom to
remain illiterate". Why should a state protect such aberrations or
deficiencies of the human mind?
It is the duty of the
state to encourage its citizens to seek education. This can be done by opening
institutions of education like schools and universities to the public. Some
states even provide free education to their citizens. But a school where
religion is taught is not a school. Religion is the negation of everything education
stands for. Students are supposed to acquire knowledge in schools and to learn
methods of rational thinking. Religion does the opposite. It opposes and denies
knowledge and discourages rational thinking. It is diametrically opposed to the
efforts of a school.
The state therefore
needs to protect children whose judgment can easily be influenced either in a
positive or in a negative way from such harmful influences like religion,
which could seriously threaten their mental health.
A school that permits
the presence of religious teachings in its curriculum or religious symbols in
its buildings and facilities is no school. And a state that permits them has
failed its citizens and especially its future generation - its children.
Freedom of religion is
no human right, because it is no individual right in its current definition. It
is a violation of human rights, because it gives privileges to religious
organizations so that they can break the laws and disrespect the individual
rights of its members.
In the name of freedom
of religion children are physically mutilated (circumcision) and coerced into
boring and absurd rituals. Neither their human rights nor their dignity are
respected. Therefore freedom of religion is not only no human right, but a
gross violation of them. If privileges of religious organizations are protected by a constitution, it is a proof that the whole concept of human rights is
not respected in this state.
Of course no citizen
can be banned from believing whatever he wants and to practice whatever he
wants in private. But this is not necessarily the case in public where it might
become a nuisance for others (e.g. prayer in public places). When religions
demand exceptions from laws, this is incompatible with the rule of law.
There are numerous
examples where religious privileges are used to break laws and to undermine the
principles of any legitimate state:
- Physical mutilation of the genitals of children
- Disrespect of animal protection laws by practicing ritual slaughter
- Noise pollution by church bells and loudspeakers from mosques
- Coercion to force certain dress codes on adolescents
Privileges like these
violate the principle of equality before the law and are unacceptable. A state
that grants privileges to religious organizations is illegitimate.
The separation of
church and state is one example of such illegitimate privileges. There can be
no separation or non-interference between church and state. This means there
can be no separate realm for religious institutions to practice their unlawful
traditions. The church, which is named here representatively for all religious
institutions, must remain below the state authority and has to obey to the law like any
other citizen.
A state has to be
committed to rationalism and should therefore not recognize any religious
institution.
Religion is a
permanent cause of intolerance, violence and social disorder. It does not
respect state authority and the rule of law. It should therefore have no place
in a modern state.
Therefore the only
right that might be granted to adult religious people is not to be reeducated by
force. But tolerance towards religion should not go any further.
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