Quebec will now ban street prayers as the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) “super-minister” of identity, Jean-François Roberge, has just passed his bill to strengthen secularism.
The problem behind this logic is that you will eventually have to contend with identity politics because without a visible structure for worship, people will inevitably begin to organise in secret and decentralise. Decentralised religion is worse and that’s how you create cults like the Nation of Islam and Klu Klux Klan who have nothing to do with the religions they originate from.
Then, there is the problem that every human is influenced by a set of beliefs or experiences that they are exposed to growing up. If they see and observe that the government is the sole power of the realm, then they will be incentivised to pursue and claim that seat of power if given the opportunity arises, and doing so knowingly means they are beholden to no law or people beneath their station.
The West is way too naive about the growing influence of Islam in its politics and institutions.
The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in most of the Middle East. Europe is just now starting to wake up to the threat of this insidious group.
Putting aside how dumb of a statement that is, will the state be mandating homes and forcing people into them? If they have to do that just to accommodate my private beliefs, how is that different than a prayer room in public? Should I be arrested if I’m homeless by choice or want to live out of a tent in the woods?
Just skip the argument to state enforced atheism and don’t pretend this line of thought is rational and secular.
As an atheist, albeit an American one, I believe that we should restrict all worship and prayer to the privacy of one’s home, exclusively.
“The State’s jackboot is oppression…unless it is wearing my preferred socks!”
The problem behind this logic is that you will eventually have to contend with identity politics because without a visible structure for worship, people will inevitably begin to organise in secret and decentralise. Decentralised religion is worse and that’s how you create cults like the Nation of Islam and Klu Klux Klan who have nothing to do with the religions they originate from.
Then, there is the problem that every human is influenced by a set of beliefs or experiences that they are exposed to growing up. If they see and observe that the government is the sole power of the realm, then they will be incentivised to pursue and claim that seat of power if given the opportunity arises, and doing so knowingly means they are beholden to no law or people beneath their station.
so, anti-freedom then? I can understand not allowing proselytizing, but this reads to me like de facto anti-muslim legislation.
If you ban all other public speech trying to sell me on anything, I might get behind it. Targeting religion specifically is a bit sus.
If it disproportionately targets Muslims then you could also argue that they disproportionately use public spaces to practice their religion.
Even an Islamic country like Uzbekistan is cracking down on stuff like this out of fear for radicalism: https://asiaplus.news/en/2023/09/18/uzbekistan-authorities-tighten-measures-against-beard-and-hijab-wearing/
The West is way too naive about the growing influence of Islam in its politics and institutions. The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in most of the Middle East. Europe is just now starting to wake up to the threat of this insidious group.
So places of worship are illegal too?
Fuck them homeless people right?
There wont be homeless people if only atheists existed
There are enough of us that if we cared to we could solve it. We don’t.
Putting aside how dumb of a statement that is, will the state be mandating homes and forcing people into them? If they have to do that just to accommodate my private beliefs, how is that different than a prayer room in public? Should I be arrested if I’m homeless by choice or want to live out of a tent in the woods?
Just skip the argument to state enforced atheism and don’t pretend this line of thought is rational and secular.
Most homeless have mental health problems, its not really an issue of acquiring a house but them ripping out the pipes to buy drugs.