Please Respect My Religion

Is My Religion Tolerant?

We are often asked to "respect people's religions." In the first place, many religious ideas are very disrespectful to human beings and are not worthy of respect. Secondly, what about people respecting our religion in return? The word "religion" comes from the Latin noun religiō, which means, among other things, "scrupulousness" or "conscientiousness." In my perspective of reality, I endeavor to be extremely scrupulous and conscientious. Hence, one could call me "religious" and my perspective "religion." My religion does not call people "infidels," "heretics," "goyim," "heathens" or "sinners," who are "other" and "alien," unlike us and worthy of contempt, exploitation or worse. Please respect my religion. My religion does not call for nonbelievers to be derogated, hated, subjugated or enslaved. Please respect my religion. My religion has no giant, anthropomorphized, male God in the sky, somewhere "out there" separate and apart from humanity who dictates our every waking moment. Please respect my religion. My religion says there are no divinely revealed facts straight from the mouth of God that represent the "one true faith." Please respect my religion. My religion neither promises heaven nor threatens hell, exploiting neither greed nor fear. Please respect my religion. My religion does not ask people to believe blindly and without scientific evidence in supernatural "saviors," "prophets" or "avatars" of a particular ethnicity or culture. Please respect my religion. My religion objects to so-called holy texts full of violence, brutality and cruelty. Please respect my religion. My religion prohibits the murder of women and girls in order to "protect honor." Please respect my religion. My religion prohibits child marriages and other forced marriages. Please respect my religion. My religion objects to forcing people to cover up simply because they have genitals of a particular gender. Please respect my religion. My religion objects to gender apartheid, in which men and women are segregated purely because of their genitals. Please respect my religion. My religion prohibits the mutilation of children's genitals of either gender, based on "religious" dictates. Please respect my religion. My religion is based on consciousness, not genitalia. Please respect my religion. My religion values scientific observation and humane morals, not superstitious belief and violent fanaticism. Please respect my religion. My religion does not allow for death or other punishment for apostasy or blasphemy, etc. Please respect my religion. My religion opposes invasion, rape and robbery in the name of a god. Please respect my religion. My religion prohibits beheading or otherwise murdering living, breathing human beings in order to defend it from "insults." Please respect my religion. My religion values life more than death and prohibits killing in its name. Please respect my religion. My religion does not allow for hand amputations for theft or stonings and hangings for adultery. Please respect my religion. My religion prohibits homosexuals from being hanged or otherwise murdered simply because of their sexual orientation. Please respect my religion. My religion treats children with kindness, love and affection, not beating them and teaching them hatred of others. Please respect my religion. My religion does not require prayer, once, five times or any other amount per day. Please respect my religion. My religion is not interested in mind control, so what you do within the privacy of your own mind is up to you, but my religion says that disrupting the public square and workplace for prayer is antisocial, aggressive and obnoxious. Please respect my religion. My religion objects to loud ringing of bells and shouting through loudspeakers, tormenting neighbors and causing divisiveness. Please respect my religion. My religion exhorts people to expose and speak out against oppression, censorship, human-rights violations and animal abuse wherever they may be found, in whatever culture or country and practiced by whatever ethnicity or religion. Please respect my religion. My religion calls for people to object to religious beliefs that are vicious, hateful, sexist and violent, regardless of the religion, faith, sect or cult. Please respect my religion. My religion calls for dignity and respect for the individual, who is free to believe or disbelieve at any given moment, as opposed to being forced to adhere to a particular religion through threats of violence and hellfire. Please respect my religion. My religion encourages singing, dancing, joy and general freedom to love life. Please respect my religion.