respecting beliefs | why we should do no such thing [cc]

thanks for this. My mother was a christian scientist and didn't believe in disease. my family "respected her beliefs" when she found a teeny, tiny lump on her breast that could have easily been removed with surgery. Instead of doing that, she decided to heal it with Christian Science. she lied to her family and told us she had taken care of it. She did nothing but read christian science literature as her lump get bigger and the cancer spread. All the while keeping her family completely in the dark about what was going on with her. she continued this in the face of stage 4 cancer, believing that a "deeper understanding of christian science" would heal her. These beliefs were so strong that even when I would urge her to get treatment she refused and told me that my belief that she had cancer would prevent her healing. Which is why she didn't tell anyone until it was too late. Christian science didn't heal her. And the people in this religion that she loved so much abandoned her at her time of need. Her last few months were spent in pain and suffering because she refused even the most basic pain medications. No friends or anyone from the church visited her. She barely talked to me or anyone in the family. She just read her christian science literature and called her practioner (christian science "healer") who also abandoned her shortly before her death saying she was too steeped in "materia medica" (aka modern medicine) because she had taken some morphine for pain. She died at age 59. Christian science is a dangerous belief system. It should NOT be respected. It needs to be challenged, especially when there are children involved. It makes me feel really sad to realize how much neglect is steeped into this religion. Thanks for letting me post this novel... clearly I needed to get this out.

"Respect is earned, never commanded." -Some drunk guy I met on public transportation

my philosophy teacher once said: respect people, not opinions.

I've always liked the phrase "Your right to swing your arms ends at my face." Religious freedom is good, no one is arguing against that, but the moment what you believe directly or indirectly harms someone, it deserves no respect.

What really broke me was second grade at a lunch table. I went to a Catholic school for grades k-5, so we had just gotten back from religion class (church but framed in a classroom). We were talking about the lesson of how if you don’t believe in Jesus you go to hell, and one of my friends says, “so my dad is going to hell?” (His dad was extremely nice and helped out a ton at the school but was still atheist) the table went quiet and everyone was to justify it. I still remember that moment to this day.

“Respect my beliefs” “Ok, but then you have to respect my right to criticize those beliefs if I deem them to be dangerous”

The belief that someone should be infinitely tortured for a finite crime is unquestionably immoral.

If your religion villainizes you for leaving the faith, questioning the belief system, punishes you for exploring other belief systems you should know it is a cult. the sooner you leave it the better.

I realize that this video has nothing to do with "We should hate others for their religion" but rather just "we should feel free to criticize each other"

If someone honestly thinks that what they believe is true, they should also think that it would hold up to scrutiny. To deny someone questioning your beliefs you also to deny your beliefs.

„No authority is beyond ridicule“ I like that

Personally, when I say I respect someone’s beliefs, it’s shorthand for ‘I respect your right to believe what you want’. I’ve always thought that this was what everyone meant by that.

I’m atheist but I had a lot of friends of different religions. Most of them were pretty relaxed, but I remember 3 instances where I felt horror towards what beliefs people could possibly hold. 1. My mom has a severe mental illness where she’s tormented by voices and paranoia all moments of her life. My middle school Mormon friend told me that we should all be happy because she “chose” this path. She explained that people are given a choice before birth: live “normally” and try to work your way into heaven, or choose to take “the easy path” where she is guaranteed a spot in heaven. I’ve never before been so livid. My mom used to have more of her mind when I was in kindergarten and I remember her as loving, kind, and happy. Only 5-10 years later she spends her days screaming and breaking furniture, fearing that someone is hiding inside and trying to hurt us. To call that a “choice”, and the fucking “easy path” on top of that… I couldn’t believe it. It’s such a horrific sight and I can’t imagine how terrifying every day feels for her. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy and my “friend” expected me to cheer and celebrate about it. 2. My first sleepover with my best friend (Muslim) was also deeply uncomfortable. Everything was going amazing until we got ready for bed. We were about to sleep and she starts to cry. I go to comfort her and she tells me that she can’t stand the fact that I’ll burn in hell for all of eternity. I didn’t know what to say. I think I said something non-committal, but she doubled down and explained in detail how I am guaranteed to experience all the pain forever after I die because I’m not Muslim. She kept saying stuff like “you don’t understand, it’s eternal pain forever. There’s no escape and you’ll burn only to be burned even more. Forever and ever. Even when you regret it, your soul will never be able to leave”. I was so unnerved at the sheer certainty in her words and how it sounded like a mix of desperation, fear, and concern. The tone she used in her voice still haunts me. We were in elementary/middle school at the time. I could tell that she cared about me, but this was the only way she could express that. She was just a kid. Why did someone say that to her? 3. This was when I was older (and in that sense I find it more concerning). I was in high school and one of my Christian friends learned that I was atheist (I don’t really talk about it). She went up to me asking why I don’t follow the Bible. I said that I think the Bible contains some good morals, but it’s also a very old book with very old values and beliefs. She responded “How do you know right from wrong without a moral compass? What’s stopping you from killing people?” That scared me a bit. I didn’t think I had to explain that most people have basic human empathy. I said that I don’t hit people because I wouldn’t want to be hit by others. I hesitantly said the same applies for murder. If I think it sucks being killed, then I think it would be a pretty shitty thing for me to do to someone else. She still was confused. “Why don’t you just go steal and kill? You believe there’s no punishment for it. Why not do it?” Well, firstly, there’s the police. But also, I… never felt the need to kill someone??? It’s not something I’ve secretly hoped I could do… and I still think it would suck getting murdered. But she continued to ask why I didn’t just go kill people. It almost sounded like the Bible was the only thing stopping her from murder. I felt there was something off about not doing something just because something told her to, and she didn’t consider why it’s said to be wrong in the first place. I felt a little nervous around her since then.

I think a lot of people use the phrase "respect my beliefs" to mean "respect my right to believe these things", which is a different concept but one I'm much more willing to work with.

"Whats your religion?" "Who the hell starts a conversation like that we just met"

to me, it can be put as simply as "I do not respect your beliefs because your beliefs do not respect me"

This was very powerful as someone who came from a religious family… the constant guilt tripping and “dehumanization” is real.

Let's be real, the true meaning of "respect each other's beliefs" is "don't make life a living hell for others based on belief."

"Respect my belief" is just an attempt to avoid getting their beliefs challenged

The idea of "I don't respect your ideas and I don't require you to respect mine" is just such a beautiful one.