People act in all kinds of ways due to all kinds of reasons. When it comes to actions that cause suffering, the basis of the person's justification doesn't matter - all we are interested in is making it clear the action is not acceptable. When religious ideas of morality, blasphemy and action are institutionalized, inequality always results as other religions are overlooked. Here we argue that all special religious rights should be abolished as we are not legislating against religion (as deviant thought is not criminal), but against harmful actions. These harmful actions should be legislated against no matter what religion people are, therefore, it seems it is rarely required to mention specific religions in law, or to exempt them from law.
- As Developed Society Outgrows Superstition, Religion Will Increasingly Contradict Common Morality
- Purely Secular Government is Superior
- EU Law on Employment Discrimination
- Religious Beliefs are Sometimes Abusive
- Example Conflicts
- UK: The Bishops in the House of Lords
- Conclusion
1. As Developed Society Outgrows Superstition, Religion Will Increasingly Contradict Common Morality
The law is based on a rational application of rules designed, in Western Democracies, to allow the greatest amount of freedom without infringing on freedoms1. Many religious beliefs conflict with this. It is not a government's job to declare which beliefs are right, so a government must mediate between those who sometimes wish to restrict other's freedoms (such as some Christians wanting strict Sunday-trading laws, or some Muslims wanting to restrict freedom of speech and dress), and those who do not subscribe to such beliefs. If the government submits to one religious belief, it often means others are outlawed. In general, the government must create as little religion-specific law as possible. Sometimes religious beliefs will conflict with these wider laws.
An article in The Economist highlights some of the diverse exceptions and religious-specific legislation currently enshrined in law in the West:
“Sikhs in British Columbia can ride motorcycles without helmets; some are campaigning for the right not to wear hard hats on building sites. Muslims and Jews slaughter animals in ways that others might consider cruel; Catholic doctors and nurses refuse to have anything to do with abortion or euthanasia. [...] America's Amish community, fundamentalists who eschew technology, has generally managed to get around the law with respect to social security, child labour and education. [...] In Britain, for example, religious courts or beth din used by Orthodox Jews have been recognised by statute - and in 2002, divorce law was adjusted in a way that acknowledged the role of these bodies. (If a Jewish husband refuses to seek a religious divorce - thus denying his wife the chance to remarry in a synagogue - a civil judge can now delay the secular divorce). [...]
In southern Europe, says Marco Ventura, a religious law professor at the University of Siena, Catholics are now more worried about the perceived advance of Islam than about maintaining old entitlements for their faith. "Their dilemma is whether the rights which their faith enjoys can be justified when new ones, like Islam, are appearing in Europe." Some of Italy's Muslims, meanwhile, have been demanding "secularism" in the sense of diluting the Roman Catholic culture of the state, which is epitomised by crucifixes in courtrooms, classrooms and hospitals.”
The Economist (2008)2
A principal example is blasphemy laws. The Muslim Quran states that the punishment for blasphemy is death; yet, their definitions of blasphemy are so wide that to enforce such superstitions as law would infringe the freedom of many others. The murder of Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands, and the attempts on Salmon Rushdie's life are two prime examples (not forgetting the dozens of murders per month that fail to make the headlines3). Muslims are sometimes led by their religion to commit illegal acts. Likewise with religions that implore adherents to use certain drugs which are illegal in some countries, or religions (such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam) that recommend strict, but barbaric, food preparation methods that fall foul of any reasonable law against animal cruelty. The stricter the beliefs, the more chance there is, as time progresses, that their dogmas will contradict the slowly expanding legal realms of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The result of all these ancient superstitions mixing with modern freedoms is that religious people either have to overrule aspects of their traditional (intolerant) beliefs, as Western Christians have largely done, or, have to sometimes go against the legal grain of the developed world. This may explain the higher rate of criminal and antisocial activities by religious people, encompassing the growing numbers of Christian fundamentalists caught committing crimes against abortion and sexual health clinics and biological scientists.
2. Purely Secular Government is Superior
There are three options:
- Pick one form of religion and keep it institutionalized.
- Adopt special religious rights for members of ALL religions.
- Abolish all special religious rights.
2.1. Should we pick one religion and institutionalize it at the expense of all others, and at least be consistent with our discrimination? How would we know which religion to pick? What version of that religion would we pick when all major denominations have large internal variants, opposed on many major areas of morals? The choice would be arbitrary, not based on morals or truth but on a pragmatic census of which sect has most influence and power. Most modern governments have emerged from a history of established religion, modern governments are attempting to be more secular but are often at odds with the remnants of the strong institutions of conservative religious power.
Picking one form of a religion over all others is clearly not acceptable in a world where governments do not force civilians to believe in particular philosophies or theologies. Where freedom is the norm, it seems antidotal to grant extra rights to those who believe in certain things. Instead, government discrimination should be based on logical causes-and-consequences regardless of the religion (or lack of religion) of the citizens who are affected by legislation.
2.2. Should we attempt to include special clauses for all religions and therefore grant fewer rights to those who are not religious? Religious people come up with all kinds of requirements on behavior. It is generally not possible for ordered, mature society to allow religious people to adhere to all their religious rules. Granting special religious rights to members of certain religions whilst not granting the right to everyone is unjust. This kind of religious discrimination has two solutions, religious exemptions for all or total abolishment of religious rights.
We could allow all religious followers to do what they wish according to the wants of their religion. So, Satanists' can make Human sacrifices, veiled Muslims can avoid security procedures, Christians can refuse to employ gay people, and any insane cult can enforce its own morals on the rest of the world. The result would be social anarchy, destruction, pain and misery. We'd be catapulted back into the dark ages when superstition and religious barbarianism rules supreme. This path is clearly a backwards step.
2.3. We can drop the special benefits for religious beliefs. So, it is immoral to discriminate against gays on account of their sexuality. Therefore it is immoral even if you are a Christian: your religious beliefs do not protect you from having to uphold societal morals. This overall abolishing of special religious rights promotes equality, an overall sensible and tolerant society where religious beliefs are not capable of undermining morality. Any rights granted to specific members of a specific religion should either be granted to all citizens (if they are acceptable rights), or, not granted at all (if they are unacceptable). In either case, referring to particular religions is superfluous.
Clearly governments should always be on the path of secularisation, which protects society as a whole from unacceptable religious behavior and preserves equality and fairness, albeit at the expense of satisfying those who want exemptions for religious reasons (or any other reason). Permissiveness towards religious behavior or insane behavior is a slippery slope back to the time before the rule of law. In reality, as you'd expect in Western commercialist countries, the government normally buckles under political pressure. So, Christian Cathedrals are allowed to sound their loud bells early on Sunday morning. But, Satanists (and everyone else) are not allowed to play equally loud black metal music because it 'disturbs the peace'. This is because the Christians have more powerful political lobby groups, and isn't the result of either democracy or reason. This is the way of pragmatic democracy, but is not the best, or most democratic, solution.
3. EU Law on Employment Discrimination
“The Employment Equality Directive introduced in 2000 requires all Member States to protect against discrimination on grounds of religion and belief in employment, occupation and vocational training. [...] The complexity of [it] comes from the fact that while Europe is committed to upholding religious freedom, it is equally committed to equality and other fundamental freedoms. At times these rights are complementary, [but] in other respects, the rights are in tension, with religious groups failing to recognise equality rights or the right of those outside the religious group.”
European Commission (2006)
A second complication is to do with what is called reasonable accommodation. This means, if a worker makes a specific request to his employer that has something to do with his beliefs, his employer has to consider it. A denial must, if it is to be legal, be for clear practical purposes and not merely theoretical ones. So an employer cannot reasons that "if loads of Sikhs joined my company, how could I continue to operate if I let them have this?", as this is a theoretical problem. It would be a real problem if specific persons on the roster would be made unhappy at the granting of a specific request.
“Employees whose requests that a work uniform be adapted to accommodate religious practice are refused would suffer indirect discrimination. The employer's requirement that staff wear the uniform would put religious members of staff at a particular disadvantage, and the requirement would need to be justified.”
European Commission (2006)
Such beliefs are probably only defensible under the Employment Equality Directive, in the UK, if they have a certain level of "cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance"4. Thus, it is the case that the person making the complaint of discrimination must prove their level of commitment to their beliefs, and the employer must prove why he cannot accommodate the specific request. The exact details of how such cases will be worked out is not yet clear.
Problems that are discussed in the European Commission document "Religion and Belief Discrimination in Employment - the EU law" (2006) include the problems that by upholding some religious rights, you can infringe on other rights. For example, German Sunday trading laws that protect Christian's ideas that Sunday is a 'day of rest', conflict with Jews who, having originally been the authors of the Hebrew scriptures know instead that Saturday (the Sabbath) is the day of rest. As a result, if Jews rest on a Saturday and shops are closed on a Sunday, they in practice cannot shop or use various other services at the weekends. Here it is impossible that national government can accommodate either group. In reality, the secular conclusion is that the government should not take into account the specific requests of either group. Along these lines, most religion-specific legislation would be utterly impractical if it was applied to all religions.
With airport security and Muslim veils, the occasional Muslim demand that women wear a full veil that should never be removed anywhere but the home, conflicts with the basic requirements of security ID checks. Airports have attempted to satisfy reasonable accommodation by offering private rooms with female staff, but hardline Muslims do not accept this either. In such cases, there is no legal way for such Muslims to pass security checks. This is not discrimination, it is simply true that Muslim beliefs create impractical problems for certain aspects of modern life, and it is inappropriate to imply that this is somehow the fault of security procedure.
4. Religious Beliefs are Sometimes Abusive
Sometimes religious requirements can amount to abuse, for example when beliefs lead to parents denying their children important medical care. Religious beliefs should only be given a certain amount of serious consideration when faced with the irrefutable facts of the world. "Further difficulties can arise in the relationship between the protection of religious interests and the principal of non-discrimination on grounds of gender" [European Commission, 2006]. Implied in this is the very restrictive behaviour of some religions towards women, most famously being Christians who cite St Paul's anti-woman 'laws' and Muslims who base wider restrictions on Islamic tradition.
5. Example Conflicts
5.1. Ritual Animal Slaughter
If someone wishes to kill an animal for food, but refuses to follow modern techniques designed to reduce the pain of the animal (for example Stunning), then it is right that their practise should be outlawed. It doesn't matter why they want to pursue older barbarian practices, their reasons could be due to religion, insanity or stupidity. It is not defendable whether you are a teenage delinquent doing it for kicks, a gothic Satanist doing it to experiment with diabolical religious beliefs, or a Jew or Muslim doing it for food according to their religious beliefs... it is wrong no matter what the reason, religious or not, so there should be no special rights or, if it was deemed acceptable, rights should be granted to everyone. In either case, no reference to religion need be included in legislation. That Jewish and Muslim belief may be at odds with morals is not the fault of morals, or the Jew or Muslim, but nonetheless the greater moral good is not intrinsically anti-Halal, merely pro-animals.
The UK government has recently ignored calls from moral groups who condemn Islamic and Jewish ritual animal slaughter practices as needlessly painful for the animals. Modern stunning techniques grant all the benefits of clean killing, with no pain or pollutants. These modern practices were not available to the authors of the Hebrew texts, so these people think they have a right to abstain from morality in order to indulge their relatively insane religious views. They have no such right - or - if it was right they could do that, then it should be a right granted to all people that animal pain does not matter for food production. Something which would clearly be a step backwards in order to accommodate religious barbarity.
5.2. Displaying Religious Symbols on Classroom Walls in Ofena, Italy, 2003
Crucifixes have been displayed in every Italian classroom since 1924, by rote of law. The following dispute highlights all the issues we are addressing on this page:
“An Italian court in October 2003 ordered the headmaster of a primary school in the town of Ofena to remove the Christian crucifix (a statuette of Christ nailed to a cross) from the wall of a kindergarten in which a 6-year-old Muslim boy was enrolled. The court order came after a 2-year dispute between school authorities and the pupil's father, who was the president of the Italian Muslim Union. Initially the headmaster had agreed to remove the crucifix in that particular classroom. But after a host of complaints from other parents, the crucifix was reinstated. The headmaster then complied with the father's request that the school also display a verse from the Islamic holy book, the Quran: "There is no God but Allah." However, the verse was removed by other parents. [...] Exhibiting a crucifix in schools and public buildings had been required by royal decrees in 1924 and 1928, a ruling reconfirmed in 1984 in an agreement between the Roman Catholic Church and the Italian government. [...]
A junior district judge, Mario Montanaro, found in Smith's favor and ordered the state kindergarten in Ofena to remove crucifixes from classrooms. Judge Montanaro stated that Italy was in the process of cultural transformation and that the nation's constitution required that belief systems other than Catholicism be respected. He called the display of crucifixes in classrooms "anachronistic".
Leading officials in the Catholic Church strongly objected.”
"Religion in schools: controversies around the world"
R. Murray Thomas (2006)5
Even if the situation was resolved and both religious symbols were displayed in the classroom, the cause of the problem would not be solved. A third, fourth and fifth religious display may need to be added to cater for various adherents' children, and some of them would offend others. The whole approach is flawed: There should be no endorsement of any religion in such a public place as a school, and there should be no official sanction of religion anywhere near suggestible children either. To officially endorse a display from one religion automatically signals that other religions are inferior: Some children may not have parents to speak out for them. Atheists and humanists would be especially hard done by if schools started pushing every religion on them!
As long as the religions remain stubborn, irrational and superstitious about such symbols, then, the only possible course of action is not to have any of them displayed. If all the children in the playground constantly fight over a toy, then at some point the teachers are negligent if they do not remove the toy.
The biggest child of them all is, apparently, the Catholic officials who complained. If they peddle irrationality in schools then do they have a right to be offended when further irrationality ensues? An arms-race of prideful religious irrationality easily descends into violence, schism, riot and suffering. Either the Catholics permit tolerance and support the presence of multiple religious symbols, or, they arrogantly demands rights for themselves only and then find themselves (correctly) barred from public presence.
5.3. Some Christian Attempts to Exempt Themselves from Having to Treat Homosexuals Fairly
Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society, warns that "religious campaigners are trying relentlessly to reverse hard-won equality rights or [to] give religious employees carte blanche to exempt themselves from the laws and regulations that apply to everyone else"6. While these cases have all failed so far, it is easy to see the danger of such campaigns, because if you allow just one person to make themselves exempt from equality laws, you soon give credence to all those similar religionists who want the same thing.
Registrars in Town Halls arrange marriages. They are government employees whose wages are paid for by the public, via taxes. They must therefore, treat everyone equally and without prejudice or discrimination, because they perform a service as a part of a democracy. One Christian who felt that such lofty ideals were below her, has lost her legal case. "Lillian Ladele, the Islington registrar who refused to conduct same-sex Civil Partnerships on religious grounds, has been refused leave to appeal against the decision of an Employment Tribunal that she did not suffer religious discrimination at work. She has also been ordered to pay costs". The National Secular Society report that "Islington was also battling against considerable odds. These cases are being fought with huge determination and massive funds from evangelical Christian groups".6
2009 Dec update: The Court of Appeal has upheld last year’s ruling that she had not been subject to religious discrimination (Ladele v London Borough of Islington):
“Andrew Copson, BHA Director of Education and Public Affairs, commented, ‘This case has been incorrectly cast by some as a “conflict of rights”. The judgment makes clear that in the context of people providing public services or performing public functions, such as Civil Partnership ceremonies, their rights simply do not “trump” those of service users. In fact, they have a duty to treat services users equally, with dignity and respect, as the public authority itself must.’
‘As the judgment made clear, in a modern liberal democracy, there can be no “opt out” for those who say they are unable to do their jobs because they wish to discriminate, even when that desire to discriminate derives from a religious belief. This judgment is extremely welcome.’”
British Humanist Association (2009 Dec 15)
Some other failed cases:
"The case of the family court judge in Sheffield who didn't want to deal with gay couples was thrown out [...]"6
"... as was the case of the Relate counsellor who did not want to offer sexual counselling to gay couples"6.
"Nadia Eweida, the woman who sued BA because she claimed they had discriminated against her after she wore a cross over her uniform, also lost her case. Far from being a victim, Ms Eweida was described by the Employment Tribunal as a nightmare employee who made unreasonable demands, unfounded accusations and was insulting to her colleagues when they didn't share her religious beliefs".6
Many of these claims are funded and managed by Christian Legal Centre, behind which is lawyer Andrea Minichiello Williams. But it is not always bad news for them: some out-of-court settlements have gone in favour of Christian prejudice.
Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service didn't fight against "a case brought against them by a Catholic firefighter who refused to provide fire safety literature to gay people. Instead of seeing the case through, the Council settled out of court". 6. If they had fought it, they would have won.
5.4. Other Examples
Discrimination against blacks, gays, etc, is not justifiably enshrined in law. This is true even if you are a Christian who believes the Bible condemns gays to hell. It doesn't matter if the source of discrimination is Nazism, xenophobia, Christianity or Islam. Claiming religion as a justification does not give people special rights to abstain from the morals of equality.
If a Muslim refuses to allow herself to be identified, for example by not removing an Islamic veil, they will be unable to pass security checks, and this is their own fault. It doesn't matter what your reasons are: be they insane, religious, anti-establishment or conspiracy theorist: the result is that the person will not be able to pass visual security checks, or to obtain licenses that require photographic identification. It is not anti-Islam to deny security checks to such a Muslim, and it is not really right to say that security staff need to include females on duty just on the off-chance that a religious or insane person refuses to be seen by a male. Such dysfunctional behaviour should not be accommodated, because it then means any dysfunctional behaviour can then claim equal rights.
Child abuse is immoral in so far as the prospects of the child are harmed. So, if a person denies their child science education or other education, the parent is behaving in an immoral way. This is true whether or not the parents have done so for religious reasons. Cults, conspiracy theorists, outcasts and lunatics are in the same boat as every other parent: Children are required to receive an education.
Presently in the UK, the Vardy Foundation led by the Evangelical Christian Peter Vardy, the used car salesman, has gained permission to open a second fundamentalist Christian school. This is, in my mind, child abuse, and should not go ahead even if he does have sincere religious reasons for doing so.
"I killed him and ate him" is not legal for a Brazilian even if he does claim to have done it as part of an ancient religious cannibalistic practice. Cannibalism is either acceptable, in which case all can do it with consenting subjects, or, it is unacceptable and no-one can do it. In either case, referring to specific religions is unnecessary.
5.5. Christian Institute Defends Two Sefton Council Workers Who Demand the Right to Discriminate Against Gays
In 2003 March two Sefton Council workers refused to take part in adoptions for gay parents, because they say it is against their Christian beliefs. As it is part of their job to perform this civil function, they have been fairly enough been threatened with dismissal for not doing their job. The Christian Institute, one of the most active Christian political groups in the UK, is fighting for the two Christians' cause "based on Christian principles".
"However, during the consultation on the Employment Directive [...] the Christian Institute - and other faith groups - fought for the right to sack non-Christian workers who didn't support the "ethos" of faith-based organisations that employed them. Now, it seems they think it is OK for Christian employees to undermine the ethos of secular employers and get away with it".8
The Christian Institute wants to be able to sack people for not having the same beliefs as themselves, Christians, but also wants Christians to be able to remain in companies despite having religious beliefs that undermine the job the employees are supposed to do. In short, the Christian Institute is not fighting for morals, but supporting sectarianism and discrimination based on religion, and undermining the stability of society.
It is my belief that if you cannot do a job, the employees do not have to pay you, and can fire you. So, if you object to doing your job for any reason, be it religious or moral, the boss can fire you. Now, in reality, if the logical reason is only a temporary inhibition, then the boss probably won't. And rightly, there are laws to protect pregnant women. But in the modern world, you simply can't discriminate against gays, even if you do believe they're "immoral": it is illegal to discriminate, even if you do so out of religious conviction. If employers such as Sefton Council bend to the wishes of those who wish to discriminate, then, those employers are encouraging illegal (and hurtful) behaviour.
6. UK: The Bishops in the House of Lords
The UK's second chamber of government is called the House of Lords. 26 Anglican Bishops and Archbishops exercise an anachronistic right to sit in this legislative body where they are known as the Lords Spiritual. These particular Bishops have in recent generations played a persistent, active, aggressive and decisive role in battling against anti-discrimination measures against gays in the present time, and against blacks, slaves and women, in older times.9
“Even though their church can claim the active adherence of less than 5% of citizens [the] "lords spiritual" still have clout [...] in February, [the] government backed away from a confrontation over the question of whom churches should employ - and in particular, which posts can be barred to gays. The government's hopes were fairly modest. It was not questioning the right of religious bodies to follow their own beliefs when hiring priests or imams, it merely wanted to clarify that, in recruiting for non-religious jobs (accountants, for example), churches must obey the law and refrain from discrimination against gays. But pursuing even this cautious aim was deemed unwise at a time when many religious leaders, including the Pope Benedict, were opposed.”
The Economist (2010)10
The vast majority of the UK are not Christian and yet the Bishops continue to sit in the Lords, representing the own interests of their own dwindled Church. Archbishops, when they retire, are routinely given life peership in the House of Lords. It is an embarrasment for democracy that they continue to sit there, but it is a hallmark of the way Church and State became symbiotic in history. It may have done in an age where most people were Christian and human rights didn't exist. Now democracy caters for all beliefs, non-discrimination and human rights are defined internationally, and Brits are no longer Christian, it will not do that the Bishops continue to sit in the House of Lords. Britain is the only democratic country left in the world that grants clerics the right to sit in its legislature11. Indeed, the Labour government (and the Church itself) have both tabled for continued disestablishment in recent years.
In 2010 March results of a poll revealed that seven in ten Christians in Britain believed it is wrong that Bishops sit in the House of Lords. A lobbying group called Power2010 organised voters to send 50,000 letters to Church of England bishops, asking them to back reform, and the campaign was supported by "a wide range of Christian and non-religious groups, including Ekklesia, the Student Christian Movement, and the British Humanist Association.
7. Conclusion
Special religious rights are a travesty of justice and a victory for stupidity. The more special religious rights that exist, the worse society has become and the more democracy is undermined. The most extreme example is the Vatican, where all laws are religious, and there is zero democracy. The government passes laws because it is necessary and because it is for the greater good. The more exceptions there are to those laws, the more democracy is weakened. This seems especially true where religious superstitions replace the rule of law. For example in Islamic states where Sharia law is declared, or during the Dark Ages when Christian superstitions cost many people their lives (not to mention the torture!), society is at its worst. Theocracy is the worst form of government, and special religious rights are exceptional in their ability to uphold discrimination and barbarianism in the face of normal moral legislation. People do not have a right to do anything they wish. Just because something is a persons' religious belief does not give them extra rights to do it.
There are two consistent paths society can take:
Fight for the rights of all religious minorities. So, certain parents can deny their children life-saving blood transfusions, Nazi parents are allowed to abstain their children from Humanities education, fundamentalist parents are allowed to abstain their children from science classes, Muslims and Jews are allowed to torture animals and (inc. Christians) kill people for blasphemy, Satanists are allowed to sacrifice people, and any other religious behavior is given the go-ahead too. The advantage is that we support religion. The disadvantage is that we fail to protect the rights and lives of those who are victims of harmful religious practices.
or
Stand for equality and non-discrimination. Legislation should never need to mention religion, except to enforce freedom of belief (but not necessarily action, of course). This means, cease tax-exemption for churches, no laws allowing Christian managers to fire gay staff, do not allow any religious belief or cult to undermine society, and therefore promote equality of belief by not allowing people to discriminate against others who do not have the same beliefs. Reject all special laws regarding religion. The advantage is that we protect the weak, children, and innocents from harmful religious behaviour. We do not discriminate against religion nor demote it, because adherents and parents are still free to teach and practice legal elements of their own religion in their own homes.
I have shown that the first path is a dangerous regression to anarchy, whilst the second is the only path that upholds equality, fairness and humanity in the face of antisocial behaviour. We should abolish all special religious rights, and remove all religious exemptions from laws that normal people are subject to.
