Old article, but a goodie: Andrew Brown: God's honest truth? | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Note. It's not illegal to preach BS in the church of your choice or even your home. But the BS just can't be passed on as "education." I guess the government of Sweden would be considered atheisitic fundamentalists and fanatics. I call them rational.
I think if you read to the end of the article, you will see where the big concern is. At the same time, Sweden has a longstanding policy of toleration. However, faced with religious fundamentalism, it's the old conundrum- when do you stop tolerating intolerance?
My own working definition of religion: A complex intellectual construct, built entirely of bullshit and devoid of any value whatsoever, which people believe even though all evidence and reason contradicts it. Nobody with any intelligence whatsoever could possibly regard religion as having any educational value. It makes sense to ban religious indoctrination from the classroom. It would make more sense to treat religious indoctrination of children as child abuse. I am sure it is illegal to threaten to kill a child. It should be just as illegal to tell a gullible child that an invisible man in the sky will burn her alive forever if she fails to believe in bullshit. Religion is evil.
My Swedish counterparts have been in town all week for a meeting. I may not like the cold, and I may not like the winter darkness, but you had better believe I get along with the Swedes that I have met.
I think this is a good stop and watch point. I agree with Sam Harris's notion that we shouldn't want to persecute religious people, just like we don't persecute people who believe Elvis is still alive. Elvis believers just pay a price in credibility, respectability, and legitimacy when they prosetylize their beliefs. Religion should be brought to this level.
According to the article, it seems the Swedish government is doing this out of fear, not of rationality.
Strange. Quite a few believe the Swedish Government has unquestionable knowledge of what is fact and what is fiction.
Lutherans have a history of godless radicalism dating back to that heretic Martin Luther. Did you know he had a bowling alley in his basement? (And he married a NUN! He even advocated a vernacular bible so everyone could read it instead of relying on the interpretations of the priests!)
Would it make you feel any better to know the law has been enacted mainly to combat Islamic fundamentalism? I also read that the Christian Democratic party, to quote the article, "is perfectly happy with the new regulation."
As I asked before, should a society tolerate those who would end toleration? If so, how long and how far? If you don't tolerate them you've end toleration yourself. I don't know, but I suspect you have to look at the current situation, wherever that takes you, and be ready to be flexible.