Freedom of Religion

Within the last year I have undergone a rather dramatic change in my attitude toward religion. Although, I recognized religion was pretty much all BS when I was fifteen, I simply avoided expressing my opinion in front of believers out of the misguided premise that you don’t make friends by pointing out how just stupid other peoples beliefs are. I definitely knew it wasn’t for me but I was willing to wilfully ignore the stupid ideas possessed by the religious crowd for the sake of social tranquility. Now, I think I was guilty of really underestimating my own ability to bring about positive changes in society and I was guilty of underestimating the ability of people to come out of the mental fog created by religion. Afterall, I was able to break free of the spell. Others are certainly just as capable of breaking free of the mental bondage as I was.

Yes, I know we have a constitutional guarantee protecting freedom of religion but that doesn’t mean that religion shouldn’t be criticised.

If religions have a justifiable role in society at all, (which I doubt), - but if they do, religions need to acknowledge the internal contradictions and negative social consequences that result from certain beliefs.

If religious people want to evolve spiritually they need to incorporate skeptism as a basis for their spiritual growth. They need to be honest with themselves about the absence of certainty. When people pretend to know more than what is humanly possible to know only trouble can result. Rather than surrendering to the notion of faith - an absolute certainty in “God” - surrender instead to our true uncertain condition in the material world and then work to expand the limits of our knowing. That’s how we have managed to leave behind the mind numbingly stupid, backward, brutality of the desert Abrahamic traditions.