General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Against my better judgment ... [View all]Pacifist Patriot
(25,212 posts)Religion should be no more exempt from ridicule than political beliefs, economic ideologies, superstitions, pseudo-science claims, etc.
I do agree there is no reason to be cruel towards any particular individual, but to give religion in general a pass from mockery or scorn is dangerous. Ridiculing religious beliefs isn't done "just because someone can," but because the beliefs may indeed be ridiculous and deserving of scorn. Magical thinking inhibits intellectual integrity in all other areas and magical thinking is the basis for religion.
"Jesus and Mo" is one of my favorite examples of religious mockery done well.
http://www.jesusandmo.net/
If you're asking for a higher level of civility amongst DUers, I can get behind that. If you're asking for religious mockery in general to be squelched, I absolutely cannot.
The problem I see, however, is that some people of faith view any sort of disagreement or questioning of their belief to be mockery and derision. Lack of complete and total reverence is viewed as scorn. As a real life example, a humanist group requested to be allowed to take a turn delivering the invocation that opens our county commission meetings. That request was turned down and the group told "atheists don't count" (in those words). But what is more to the point, the commission then accused the humanist group of making a mockery of the commissioners' Christian beliefs simply by requesting to be included in a civic ritual.
So who gets to draw the line that decides whether a word or action is scornful?