Adorable Emma
So I’m sitting here watching a youtube video by the always-adorable Emma Thorne. In it, she’s having some fun at the expense of well-known right wing talking heads Matt Walsh and Ben Shapiro. They’re protesting that their religious freedom is being infringed because it’s (mostly) illegal to deny services or otherwise persecute same-sex couples in America. I personally find it pathetic that Christians whine loudest about being victims when they’re prevented from victimizing others.
It occurs to me that the world would be such a much better place if religious people would have the good grace to just STFU and leave others alone. Normal people don’t care who marries whom. Why don’t they care? Easy answer: Because it doesn’t matter. If Jack marries Phil instead of Jill, your life doesn’t change. Their marriage doesn’t raise your taxes or lower your property value. If their marriage bothers you in some way, it’s likely because you’re brainwashed and need psychiatric help.
And why do so many Christians and Muslims object to same-sex marriage? Because the Bible and the Quran say so. They don’t (to my knowledge) say why it’s “wrong,” they just say it’s wrong. This is typical of the Abrahamic faiths. You don’t need a reason – just obey the scriptures. And whatever else you do, for God’s sake don’t dare to actually think or try to reason through the prohibition. Just have faith that your preferred translation of your preferred holy book of your preferred sect of your preferred religion is correct on all things.
Or as Martin Luther famously said,
“Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.”
So saith the Father of Protestantism.
A failure to question is in my opinion at the heart of the problem. Religion endures because otherwise sensible people are reluctant to question its edicts. I’ve heard multiple reasons for such reluctance. Some people genuinely believe the dogma. Others are unsure but abide by it out of fear of it being correct (Pascal’s Wager). Many people recognize it as being false but mistakenly believe it’s a necessary evil to keep society in line. Never mind the fact that so many of the world’s most awful wars are fought over differences in religious beliefs.
Religion has no place in a civilized, modern, well-informed culture. More and more people are coming to realize this and panicky fundies (like Walsh and Shapiro) are circling their wagons. Normal people are feeling more free to call out those who seek to force their beliefs on others. And that’s a beautiful thing. Why? Because gay folks deserve all the same rights as the rest of us. No more, no less. And America still has a long way to go where equality is concerned. Progress is slow, but we’re progressing.
“The United States of America should have a foundation free from the influence of clergy.” – George Washington
“Every new & successful example therefore of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance. And I have no doubt that every new example, will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Gov will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together” – James Madison, Letter to Edward Livingston in 1822
“The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authority; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing, and it admits of no conclusion.” – Thomas Paine
Okay y’all that’s it for me today. Have a great day, and if you’re in the path of Hurricane Helene, please do be careful. – ABB 
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