On how many ways might religion endanger life?

So far we have:
- Murders for blasphemy
- Murders for homosexuality
- Murder for religious differences
- Attacks on women’s reproductive choices

Now, most of these ways religion affects our lives directly. And I’m not counting the ways it makes our lives harder, at least for those who like to live in a fair and free society. Religion seems to demand all of these from its followers, and while some might want to deny so, arguing that “those actions go against the coran/bible/whatever”, their word is as truthful as that of the most ardent fanatics.

Let’s also consider the way religious parents indoctrinate their kids into following the same nonsense they believe. We have already seen the Jesus Camp video, and fortunately society is in some ways realizing how harmful it can be to grow up in a religious home. Of course, believers are not very happy:

Christian foster couple lose 'homosexuality views' case



Eunice and Owen Johns, 62 and 65, from Derby, said the city council did not want them to look after children because of their traditional views.

The pair, who are Pentecostal Christians, say they were "doomed not to be approved".

The High Court ruled that laws protecting people from sexual discrimination should take precedence.

It’s funny to see a black couple complaining that the court won’t let them discriminate against another minority. I think I can sue then if I ever want to adopt a kid and tell him “Niggers are bad, don’t get near them”. See? By now many of you are already outraged that I used such a hateful word. For this, I think, society is moving forward. The less kids grow up in strongly religious families, less bigots society will harbor in the future.

As the icing of the cake, let’s consider how some religious groups will shun medical treatment because of their faith. Yeah, a totally (and literally) insane attitude. But, being a little bit cynical, we can think, “that’s ok, they’ll die faster”. But that’s not entirely true. Those kind of cases certainly can harm us:

Measles Scare Hits 3 U.S. Airports

Thousands of passengers may be at risk after a woman who tested positive for measles traveled through airports in Washington, D.C., Denver and Albuquerque last Tuesday.

The C.D.C. says the woman who tested positive was not immunized because of her religion.

I don’t think anyone can force this woman to get vaccinated. But the least think we can do is prohibit her and those without the proper immunization for religious reasons from flying. If there is such a concern about terrorist boarding planes, this is surely something to take into account.

Religion commands us to shut down our reason and simply live by what others, who rely only on authority, tell us. To believe, we have to close our eyes and walk simply by trusting an invisible hand that isn't there, until we reach a cliff and fall off. And yet, many will think that this was done so that we can learn something. Moreover, many times, a believer will drag others who just don't want to be dragged. That's the importance of of speaking against religion.

Fundies... fundies everywhere. Even at Disney

A couple of days ago I went to Disney with some friends. It was a nice day in which I had thought about forgetting everything related to religious nonsense. But when we were arriving at Disney we found this:



At Disneyland? Seriously? I know, they have their freedom of speech and they can stand wherever they want and say whatever nonsense they believe in. But besides that, this made me think that the zealotry these Christians have is in no way comparable to the way we non-believers present us to the world. We might blog, we might form college clubs, we might host local meetings, we might write and sell books, and nowadays, put ads in buses and billboards. all of those, actions believers have been doing for years. But we hardly will behave as attention-whores and stand in a corner, or worse, go knocking on doors to proselytize.

Which, by the way, reminds me of the Jehova's Witness' publication in which they complain about atheists being vocal in their lack of believe. I think anyone can see the irony in the fact that a group that knocks on your door to talk you into their cult, complains about atheists saying "we exist".

Stuff like that tend to remind me that I'm in the rational side of the river.

Doom’s witnesses

Among all the nonsense with which religions amuse us, there is one that usually draws my attention and is usually found in a strong controversy, is the Jehovah’s Witnesses refusal to blood transfusions. It’s interesting that, instead of doing as other denominations do, “kill” the person little by little, this one is a belief that can kill a person right away.

Jehovah’s Witness who refused blood transfusion because of her religion dies

She was intervened few moments after suffering a car accident, but died because of blood loss since her religion prohibits blood transfusions

The header and following paragraph are to certain point ridiculous. I find it unconceivable that a person dies even though she had the opportunity to receive medical care on time.

My opinion is certainly divided. In one hand it saddens me to see that a person dies even though she had the opportunity to be saved by the advancement of medical procedures. On the other hand, there is a part of me, a very politically incorrect part, that wants to enjoy the death of a fanatical person who is retarded enough to kill herself, which means one less contribution to a church, and a few less doors knocked. And also, there is the indifference to see a person who died happy of dying the way she wanted.

As usual with abrahamic religions, the Jehovah’s witnesses also dislike gay people. The Sodom and Gomorrah story is frequently cited to justify such bigotry (of course, nothing is said about Lot’s offering of giving his daughters to an angry mob to be correctly gang-raped). Even though they don’t stage protests, since the Jehovah’s Witness church is a pretty solvent institution, which makes it a powerful lobby when it comes to collect signatures and ask for laws that discriminate against gays.

Less outrageous is the fact that they give priority to evangelization instead of education, which is why they have time to go around knocking on doors. However, the good side is that few of them will be able to talk about biology or cosmology when trying to convince people of accepting God in their lives.

It’s also worth mentioning that Jehovah’s witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays, Christmas or Halloween, so don’t even bother inviting them to your party. Some won’t even sign a card, so it wouldn’t be rare to find a friend or relative missing in a celebration. It surprised me that they don’t celebrate Christmas, but after doing some research, I found out that they don’t like Christmas because of its pagan origins. At least they got that right.

There are also the common nonsenses which, while not critical, are annoying to find in the XXI century, such as denial of evolution, demonization of sexuality, prohibition of smoking and drinking, authority of the husband over the wife and finding Satan everywhere.

Going back to the blood transfusion issue, while my opinion is divided when a person dies, it’s certainly defined when the victim is a minor. In this case, it would be outrageous to see a kid dying because his or her parents don’t want to allow a blood transfusion. Fortunately, hospitals have the power to take custody of the kid and make a transfusion.

Anyway, I’m sure I’m leaving behind many issues about this sect, but I think I covered the most controversial issue of this group: the refusal of a medical method that in many cases it’s vital to save a person’s life.