Intolerance

Like most people I am a mongrel. If I was to examine my DNA I bet I would find traces of African, Asian, European and probably more. I hope so.

I am not a nationalist. I am a globalist. I see myself as a human being and part of the global brother/sisterhood of man and a responsible hominid. I am not a patriot in the usual sense of the word. I fight for universal freedom, suffrage and rights.

I love variety and the celebration of difference. I welcome people with different backgrounds. But I do have a proviso. This country is attractive because we have an over-riding culture of tolerance, liberal thinking and radicalism. We have led the world in many areas of social emancipation and I am proud of that. We have been a haven for refugees fleeing from oppression and I am proud of that. People come here because they value the freedom, democracy and values we espouse. What I object to is people who wish to impose un-British values on me.

I am not against immigration. I am against overpopulation world-wide.

I do not care if people are black, white, pink, brown, red or yellow. Their race is unimportant. What is important is their character and the values they have.

My views are neither racist nor Islamphobic.

There is no biological foundation for racism. It stems from basic xenophobic fear. I want universal brother-sisterhood and equality.

As an antitheist I believe all religions are dangerous and harmful, superstitious nonsense and the sooner we mature and leave them behind the better. But I do not advocate a repression of religions or action against them. As far as I am concerned everyone should be free to practise whatever religion they wish. But that should be a personal choice, not one imposed on anyone. I am opposed to all forms of indoctrination (particularly with children – which I regard as particularly pernicious and psychologically damaging), evangelism and imposition. I would do away with all religious schools (indoctrination factories) and RE lessons other than historical comparative context. I do not have any hierarchy of which religions I dislike most. They are all the same. They have all been responsible for intolerance, indoctrination and atrocities.
I believe that religion will wither and die of its own accord as the farcical stories are shown to be unfounded.
My diatribes on religion are founded on the infringements of basic human rights and the indoctrination processes they adopt. The practices of fanatics has been similar throughout history whether its pogroms, crusades, torture, beheadings, jihads, partitions, inquisitions or witch-hunts – it’s all about politics and power. They are all callous, brutal thugs, indoctrinated and used by cynical leaders. Jews, Christians, Hindus, Muslims and even Buddhists all have pasts full of atrocities. I abhor them all.
I welcome the variety of cultures and customs. I think they enrich. But I do not respect people who wish to impose their views on me, enforce their religion on me or others or wish to depose the prevailing British culture which is the result of enlightenment and centuries of social struggle. In my view people who live in this country should be integrated and aspire to the values of tolerance and freedom that permeate the culture. I have come to see that aspects of multiculturalism have created apartness and a loss of an over-riding shared cultural values. I don’t think that is good.

My issues with religion are about human rights. I think you can have family values without practicing misogyny or making women second class citizens. Unfortunately I see many practises in Muslim communities abroad and in Britain which restrict the rights of women (voting, driving, dress code, freedoms, genital mutilation, education etc.) which are enforced and infringe basic human rights.
When you lock women away and create a sexually repressed society the males often behave abhorrently. We saw the same hypocrisy in Victorian Britain. This is why I am in favour of sexual liberalisation and monogamy and family values. You can have both.

What the world needs is less fanaticism and intolerance and more love and harmony. The worst scenario of all is a theocracy. The tyrannous imposition of religion on people is surely the most regressive and stifling experience. We were freed by the Enlightenment. As soon as we got the shackles off our culture blossomed, science and discovery were unleashed.

I am all for building a positive zeitgeist! This blog welcomes atheists, believers, antitheists, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, non-believers, Sikhs, Jains, doubters, all other sects, denominations and faiths and those that don’t give a hoot.

It welcomes people of all colours and customs.

You are all most welcome!

I want debate, argument, fellowship and understanding. We might not agree but we can still respect each other and practise our tolerance.