This issue has recently come up again in my life. I feel it’s important to put out there once more where I stand. In short, people deserve respect, not ideas. Your belief in a supernatural being who rules the universe, but can’t be seen, heard, felt or in any way, shape or form empirically shown to exist, does not mean that I can’t question it. Or make fun of it. Or get angry at the actions that people take in the name of said being. And I’m going to do that publicly. For too long, atheists have been forced, sometimes by violent means, to keep quiet.

Guess what? I’m not going to shut up and sit down. If it’s not disrespectful to post messages asking people to pray to your mythological deity or thanking it for some random coincidence, then it’s not disrespectful for me to post messages saying that there are no gods or that I love the amazing diversity of life thanks to the process of evolution. And if you’re going to make even more ridiculous claims about the earth only being 6,000 years old or you try to force your religion into our legal system, I’m going to call you on it and tear into you. Suck it up.

Below the fold is a repost of my original post back in 2008 called Where I Stand.

Reposted from November 10, 2008:

I have been accused recently of “hating” religion and its followers. I’d like to make something clear. I don’t hate anyone. This is sincere. I have tried to purge the idea of hate from my own personal ideology. I believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. One of the biggest things that I am trying to teach my children is to love everyone. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to go have gay sex with just anyone on the street, but it does mean that we humans are all stuck together on this big mud ball flying through space, and we all are interdependent. There’s no way around this fact. We’re stuck with each other and we depend on one another.

As far as religion goes, I fully support everyone’s right to believe anything they want. The first amendment means a lot to me. I will defend to the death your right to believe in whatever god(s) you want. I will also defend your right to NOT believe in any god(s). Freedom of religion == freedom from religion. You want to believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Light? That’s all right by me. I don’t believe in that, but unless you want to engage in debate, I’m not gonna try to talk you out of it. And I’d thank you to not try to change my mind, unless I express an interest in hearing your point of view. You also have every right to put your opinions on religion out there, for public perusal. But you have to accept that there will be others who don’t believe as you do and they have the exact same right to express that as well. Public expression implies the possibility of public contradiction. Just because it’s called “religion” and invokes the sanctity of a god doesn’t exempt it from scrutiny and that includes the possibility of ridicule. Deal with it.

Here’s what I DO NOT respect: individuals and groups attempting to legislate their religion into my life. Contrary to what some people think, religion is not the sole repository of all Truth with regard to morality and ethics. Just because you believe that a fiery pit in hell is reserved for you for all eternity if you violate the principles of your religion, that does not mean that you have the authority to impose your moral structure on the rest of us, especially when your ideas of “right” and “wrong” take away fundamental human rights.

When people try to rob the citizens of this (or any) nation of their freedoms in the name of their god(s), that’s when I get angry. I don’t go trolling around christian sites looking for people to ridicule. I don’t make it a point to make an example of every logical fallacy that exists in religious belief. But when you bring it out into the open and try to force your beliefs on others, that’s when I open up with both barrels. Sarcasm and ridicule are potent weapons in the battles of thoughts and ideas, and I don’t hesitate to use them. If you are willing to try to change the laws of this country, if you are going to try to subvert science and medicine in the name of your god, your religion then you are fair game for response. And the response is going to be something you don’t like. I’m going to point out the ridiculousness of your position, the inherent hatred and bigotry in your policies and the absolute lack of any foundation in reality that your religion possesses. I will ridicule it. I will mock it. I will give it the respect it deserves, which is none.

So if the basic tenets of what you are trying to impose on the rest of us is based on the principle that you are in possession of The Truth, that you (or what you believe) is superior to the rest of us and must be imposed on us, well, in short, fuck you.