Communism, Theocracy and choice

The one thing I find most amazing, is the number of people who will bash Fred Phelps for his idiotic rants in one breath, and in the next, they fling the same type of generalized insults at another group. Take for instance, the ongoing attack that have regularly appeared in the comments on my blog. Comments that attack not just Christianity, but attack and insult any person that dares to believe in a higher being. These attacks which are wrongly made by Fred Phelps, are also wrongly made by those who wish to rid the world of organized religion.

Fortunately, in the United States, the right to believe or disbelieve rests with the individual, and not with society, not with the government, and definitely not based upon the opinion of a few morons on the internet. The right to believe or disbelieve is now, and in the United States, has always been a free choice.

Of course, there are many examples of countries that took away the individual right to believe in God. For example, the old Communist empire of the Soviet Union, religion, while not forbidden, was strictly controlled, and “having religion” barred an individual from rising in the ranks. In modern China, that same strict regulation of religion still exists, but government is slowly easing the regulations that virtually ban religion.

On the other hand, there exist many countries that are theocracies, and are run by a religious leader/council. Two of the more famous are Iran and Syria.

I am not sure about you, but I don’t believe that I would like to be living in any country that either prohibited the practice of religion, or that mandated the practice of religion. Just from the examples shown, both the total government that lacks religion and that government based upon religion could be considered not-so-nice places to live.

In both cases, the free will of the people is removed, with the intention of the individual serving the state, and only the state. In both cases, the outcome is same, you either toe the line of the leadership, or you end up imprisoned (or worse).

One of the best parts of the United States has always been mixture of both the secular and the religious. The base nature of secular man mixed with the morality taught by religion. And men were given the choice to be who they are, and to believe as they wished, rather than having a particular religion or a lack of religion shoved down their throat.

Unfortunately, there are many out there who would see all religions destroyed. Why? Because it offends them. They have made their choice to not believe, but they also think that they should ridicule others into denying their belief. Simply remember, when they attempt to offend, you have a choice to make. Will you choose to be offended?

I used to be offended by Fred Phelps and his message of hate. Now? I choose to not be offended, and indeed, I have used Fred and his cohorts as an example to my children of what intolerance is. The same as I use those who hate religion have shown me that it isn’t only religious zealots that are intolerant.

Think about it, and the next time a person starts to insult your belief, or flings names at you because of your belief, will you choose to be offended?

You can email Alan at alan@alanfernald.com twenty-four hours a day.