http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutreligion/p/RespectReligion.htm
Religious Believers Demanding Respect:
An increasing source of conflict in the world today is centered
around religious believers demands for respect. Muslims demand
respect that would forbid criticism, satire, or mocking of their
religion. Christians demand respect that would amount to
something very similar. Nonbelievers are caught in a bind when its
not clear what respect is supposed to entail and how it is
supposed to be achieved. If respect is so important to believers,
they need to be clear about what they want.
Respect vs. Tolerance:
Sometimes, a person who wants respect is simply asking for
tolerance. The minimal definition of tolerance is a state where one
has the power to punish, restrict, or make something difficult but
consciously chooses not to. Thus I may tolerate the barking of a
dog even if I have the ability to stop it. When it comes to
non-violent, consensual behavior, religious believers demand for
tolerance is usually reasonable and should be granted. Its rare,
though, that this is all that is desired.
Going Beyond Tolerance:
Respect and tolerance are not synonyms; tolerance is a very
minimalist attitude whereas respect involves something more active
and positive. You can think very negatively about something you
tolerate, but there is something contradictory about thinking very
negatively about the exact same thing you are also respecting.
Thus, at the very least, respect requires that one have have
positive thoughts, impressions, or emotions when it comes to the
religion in question. This isnt always reasonable.
Should Beliefs Be Respected?:
There seems to be a popular impression that beliefs deserve
automatic respect, and therefore that religious beliefs should be
respected. Why? Should we respect racism or Nazism? Of course not.
Beliefs dont merit automatic respect because some beliefs are
immoral, evil, or just plain stupid. Beliefs may be able to earn a
persons respect, but its an abdication of moral and intellectual
responsibility to automatically accord the same respect to all
beliefs.
Should the Right to Believe be Respected?:
Just because a belief is immoral or stupid doesnt mean that there
is no right to believe it. Belief may be unwise or irrational, but
a right to belief must cover such beliefs if its to have any
meaning at all. Therefore, a persons right to believe things and
to hold their religious beliefs must be respected. Having a right
to a belief, however, is not the same as having a right to not hear
criticism of that belief. The right to criticize has the same basis
as the right to believe.
Should Believers Be Respected?:
Although beliefs must earn respect and should not receive automatic
respect, the same is not true of people. Every human being deserves
some basic minimum of respect right from the beginning, regardless
of what they believe. Their actions and beliefs may lead to greater
respect over time, or they may strain your ability to maintain that
minimum. A person is not the same as what that person believes;
respect or lack thereof for one should not lead to the exact same
for the other.
Respect vs. Deference:
The most significant problem with believers demands for respect
for their religions and/or religious beliefs is that respect too
often amounts to deference. Deferring to religion or religious
beliefs means according them a privileged status something
understandable for believers, but not something which can be
demanded from nonbelievers. Religious beliefs merit no more
deference than any other claims and religions do not merit
deference from nonbelievers.
How Religion Can and Should Be Respected:
The increasingly raucous demands from religious believers that
their religions be accorded more respect in the public square and
from non-adherents is a sign that something very serious is going
on but what, exactly? Believers apparently feel that they are
being slighted and insulted in a significant manner, but is this
true, or is it instead a case of mutual misunderstanding? It may be
that both are occurring at various times, but we wont get to the
root of the problem without being clear about our terminology and
this means that religious believers must make it clear what sort of
respect they are asking for.
In many instances, well find that religious believers are not
asking for something appropriate they are asking for deference,
positive thoughts, and privileges for themselves, their beliefs,
and their religions. Rarely, if ever, are such things justified. In
other instances, we may find that they arent being accorded the
basic tolerance and respect which they deserve as human beings, and
they are justified in speaking out.
Respecting religion, religious beliefs, and religious believers
does not and cannot include treating them with kid gloves. If
believers want respect, then they must be treated as adults who are
responsible and culpable for what they assert for better and for
worse. This means that their claims should be treated seriously
with substantive responses and critiques, if criticism is
warranted. If believers are willing to present their position in a
rational, coherent manner, then they deserve a rational and
coherent response including critical responses. If they are
unwilling or unable to present their views in a rational and
coherent manner, then they should anticipate being dismissed with
little afterthought.
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