Darth Wong wrote:That depends on the belief, doesn't it? How is a belief that says "every religion but ours is evil and deserves to be tortured for all eternity by a just God" any better than one that says "every race but ours is evil and inferior?"
Would you argue that a white-supremacist is OK as long as he doesn't run around trying to force his views upon the world?
That's a bit loaded, isn't it?
IMO, and in the opinion of most sane people outside of Georgia, white supremacy is one of the more fucked up human endeavors that has ever marred the earth with its existence. However, in the US, it most certainly IS OK to be a white supremacist, so long as you're peaceful about it. Hell, even if white supremacists were to knock on your door the way Jehova's Witnesses do, it would still be alright. Granted, I wouldn't like it one bit. But they have the right to protest and declare their opinion and burn crosses on their own property as much as I have the right to slam my front door in their fucked-up faces and tell them to get the hell off of my property.
Essentially, even when people DO try to "impose" their beliefs on you by preaching at you on street corners or knocking at your door at suppertime, or calling your house trying to sell you life insurance (and no, product sales aren't too much different from religious missions), the only time they're in the wrong is when they try to take away rights or freedoms, or threaten harm to you or your loved ones.
As Voltaire (I think?) said, "I may not believe what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
EDIT: More to the point, a religion that called for all non-believers to be tortured is not morally right (by modern western standards, anyway). That being said, until the patrons of that religion violate a law or human right, they have the right to believe anything they want. Hell, they could believe that babies were inherently evil and should be slaughtered immediately after being delivered, and until they kill a baby they have violated no laws. In fact, to deprive them of their right to believe such nonesense is to give them justification to take away OUR rights by killing our babies. Or so it would seem.
