A reader to this site recently emailed me, saying that I appeared to be more at war with those who push their religion upon others, rather than at war against religion itself.
I can certainly see how he came to this conclusion, and in fact, he's more right than wrong.
I do feel that those who push their religion or morality on others are a huge threat. If those people didn't exist in droves, this site wouldn't exist, either.
On the other hand, I do think that religion is inherently harmful, too.
Here's the analogy I gave him, and I think it's worth capturing here for posterity:
Religion is like smoking. Pushing your religion on others is like inflicting second-hand smoke on them. Very harmful, very rude, and totally unacceptable. But even if you're just smoking alone in your room, it's still harmful to you.
Harming yourself shouldn't be forbidden. It's stupid, but there aren't any laws against stupidity. I do wish everyone would stop smoking. We'd have healthier people, less money being spent on hospital care and insurance premiums, etc.
But to convince someone to quit smoking, or to give up religion, one must educate them, not fight them. To those who inflict their smoke or religion on others… the time for education is past, and only a direct fight can stop it.
So I'm doing both. I'm fighting against those who are harming others because of their religion, and trying to educate those who are harming themselves.
Likely as not, though, there will always be those who ignore (or don't believe) the Surgeon General's warnings on the sides of cigarette packages, just as there will always be those who ignore (or don't believe) the harm that religion does to an individual. And there will always be those who smoke around their children or others, just as there will always be those who proselytize and condemn others of any differing religious view.
Quite a task we have ahead of ourselves, isn't it?
