It's Time to End the Special Privileges Afforded to Religious Belief

I am all for freedom of religion - something the U. S. Constitution and the individual state constitutions promise, but sadly do not deliver upon. Why? Because some religious beliefs are given special rights and privileges at the expense of other religions and the rights of other citizens. Unfortunately, the set of religious beliefs still given the most special rights and status is that of conservative Christians. A belief system that promotes hatred of others, the denigration of others, and an incessant push for a Christianist theocracy. It's the elephant in the room that no one wants to challenge notwithstanding the damage it does to so many other citizens. In a post that looks at the LGBT-Muslim dynamic and the two groups common enemy, fundamentalist Christians, Zack Ford has some good analysis on the need to take on religious believers head on and end the privilege and deference given to their undemocratic and often hate fueled views. Here are some highlights:
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The archnemesis of the queer community is not any particular faith, or any particular religious text, or any tenet of any particular religious institution. It’s belief itself. It’s the belief that gay = wrong. It’s the belief that gay = sin. It’s the belief that gay = chosen. It’s the belief that gay = unnatural. The list goes on and on, but the problem is belief.
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Facts are on our side. Decades of psychological research and the simple testimony of hundreds of millions of people from across our entire globe remind us that any belief against homosexuality is flawed and misinformed.
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But belief persists. That’s because belief maintains significant privilege in our society. We have to respect beliefs. We have to leave them unchallenged. We even have to cater to them. It is this shield of faith that helps our oppressors maintain their dominance in society.
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No matter what religious groups we work with, one thing goes unchanged: belief. As long as we’re defending, reinforcing, reconciling with, and making compromises with people guided by faith, we are only helping maintain the shield of faith. It is that religious privilege that holds us back, and yet the stigma of acknowledging it still seems too great for so many. We wouldn’t have this problem if we were all atheists, but faith is privileged, so people want it, and so the quest to have it both ways continues, as does the oppression such foolishness perpetuates.
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When people aren’t hedging the facts of my existence to support their misguided beliefs, I’ll support them. It doesn’t matter how they identify themselves. But as long as the focus is helping protect faith-based beliefs, we’re just sustaining our own oppression. So, should we defend Muslims? Absolutely. Should we defend Islam? Not at all. I’m sure, though, that my words will fall on the many deaf ears of those in the LGBTQ movement eager to defend Christianity.
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Those who love and let love we should love and let love in return. Those who bully and let bully? Why waste our time making nice with them?