have argued with many religious individuals both on here and other forums who always argue that their rights should be upheld by society. and to a degree i am in agreement with them, for i have no argument with any religious group that wants to practice its religion in moderation. the difficulty for me is when religious groups try to impose their will on others then protest that it is their right to do so. for example if the rule in a secular school is that all pupils must wear school uniform, is it right that those of a differing religion should wear something other than the school uniform then protest that it is their right to do so. equally as i have mentioned before should employees skip certain duties due to their religious beliefs or refuse to perform certain duties. and if it is their right to impose their religion upon others like this, what of the rights of others that have been compromised as a result of their rights, e.g a woman refused the morning after pill or an abortion as a result of a doctors religious beliefs. whose rights really matter?
I agree. I'll respect people's religious beliefs if I'm in their home, or if I'm in a country where a religious majority dictates the customs and laws. But in a shared/multi cultural society, religious beliefs that negatively affect or offend others simply don't work. If your religion doesn't work with the people around you, and if you put your religion above your humanity, then you're in the wrong place.
I don't think any group should be more important than another. Besides, who decides who is more important? One thing might be important to you, but not to others. As for those who feel it is there right to push their religious beliefs on others - I feel that it is my right to not have religious beliefs pushed onto me. Follow your beliefs yourself but don't make other's follow them. If you believe that the morning pill is evil then don't take it yourself - but don't stop others from taking it. Leave the judgment to your God.
Same here! If I'm in a home where people pray at a certain time, like before dinner, I'll fold my hands and bow my head... Or even if I'm at my apartment with a religious friend over, and he wants to pray before a meal at my place, I'll still bow my head... But I can't stand when people try to get me to partake in their religion, or come to my door asking me to go to their church via some sob story about how they were "saved"...
I usually have 2 criteria about such questions: 1) Is participation voluntary or obligatory? A restaurant doesn't need to serve Kosher meals because if you don't like their food you can go to another restaurant but government has to serve Kosher meal in prison because prisoners have no other alternative. 2) Is law and regulation applied equally to everyone? For example a school has the right to ban all religious signs in school property but it should be equally applied to Muslims artifacts as well as Christians and not favor one religion over another. If the above two principals are observed then it is fine.