# People who believe in a god should be locked up **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 10, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684 "2009-12-10T03:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Cleveland_Steamer)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/1 "2009-12-10T03:18:03Z")
Witnessing: If was not for logistical problems (too many believers), people who believe in a magic spirit (god) should be locked up. I would like to see a plan put in place to start doing this in 20 years. In a hundred years, believing in God should be a crime punishable by death. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/2 "2009-12-10T03:27:35Z")
Should we put this one directly in the pit, or wait for it to trainwreck first? Seriously- if the power exists to lock other people up for their beliefs, the power also exists to lock you up for yours. Protect yourself by adopting a “live and let live” mentality. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/3 "2009-12-10T03:29:56Z")
I thought this idea was rather fruity from the title but it’s clear your ideas are absolutely insane if you mean what you said in the OP. You are advocating mass murder and genocide on a scale unseen in human history. Also why? What’s so wrong with religious folks that not only do you wish to restrict them but have them put to death? Also in a hundred years religious people will still overwhelmingly outnumber atheists and most atheists I hope are decent and tolerant enough not to want the complete massacre of theists. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/4 "2009-12-10T03:36:37Z")
I wonder what our resident legal eagles would have to say about the constitutionality of such a plan? Perhaps in the interest of regulating interstate commerce, the feds could outlaw religion. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/5 "2009-12-10T03:39:40Z")
The Constitution comes down narrowly against this idea. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/6 "2009-12-10T03:39:49Z")
To the OP: Quit helping. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Wombats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Wombats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Wombats)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/7 "2009-12-10T03:40:38Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I wonder what our resident legal eagles would have to say about the constitutionality of such a plan? Perhaps in the interest of regulating interstate commerce, the feds could outlaw religion. 😉 IANAL, but I can think of a few immediately challenges it probably wouldn’t survive. Most immediately, the free exercise clause of the first amendment would leave this law dead in the water. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/8 "2009-12-10T03:43:20Z")
Perhaps the OP would like to tell us why he believes that belief in God/god/gods should be punishable by death. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/9 "2009-12-10T03:47:15Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Seriously- if the power exists to lock other people up for their beliefs, the power also exists to lock you up for yours. Exactly. I can’t recall the exact quote, but I’m reminded of an exchange that goes something like this: “Would you break the laws or remove them to defeat the Devil?” “Yes! Anything to defeat the Devil!” “Well, if you remove all law, what is there to protect you from the Devil?” ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/10 "2009-12-10T03:53:26Z")
That quote doesn’t make sense to me; it assumes that the devil, if there were such an entity, would obey “the laws.” ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/11 "2009-12-10T03:55:37Z")
…with God. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Cleveland_Steamer)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/12 "2009-12-10T03:55:49Z")
My post is not a coherent argument, just witnessing. I am exploring extremely radical atheism as a way to combat my agnosticism. I going to try radical religion next month. Maybe Catholicism (they have 2Pac on the playlist. But fuck 'em for this month.) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/13 "2009-12-10T03:56:42Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > That quote doesn’t make sense to me; it assumes that the devil, if there were such an entity, would obey “the laws.” Obviously, they are speaking about attacking “the Devil” by going after people who the tear-down-the-laws guy thinks follow him. After all, the laws don’t protect the actual Devil either, if he existed. It’s an older quote IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/14 "2009-12-10T03:59:03Z")
> [@The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](#): > > My post is not a coherent argument, just witnessing. > > I am exploring extremely radical atheism as a way to combat my agnosticism. > > I going to try radical religion next month. Maybe Catholicism (they have 2Pac on the playlist. But fuck 'em for this month.) I believe what you need is a psychologist. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/15 "2009-12-10T03:59:55Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Exactly. I can’t recall the exact quote, but I’m reminded of an exchange that goes something like this: > > “Would you break the laws or remove them to defeat the Devil?” > > “Yes! Anything to defeat the Devil!” > > “Well, if you remove all law, what is there to protect you from the Devil?” From A Man from All Seasons, by Robert Bolt. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/16 "2009-12-10T04:01:43Z")
Question - where are us Buddhists going? Comment - I am not working at the mega-prison. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/17 "2009-12-10T04:04:12Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > I believe what you need is a psychologist. who can recommend a good psychiatrist because they can write prescription(s). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/18 "2009-12-10T04:05:01Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > From A Man from All Seasons, by Robert Bolt. Right. > [@](#): > > Daughter: Father, that man’s bad! > > More: There’s no law against that! > > Roper: There is, God’s law! > > More: Then let God arrest him! > > Wife: While you talk he’s gone! > > More: And go he should, if he were the Devil himself, until he broke the law! > > Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! > > More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? > > Roper: Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that! > > More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down (and you’re just the man to do it!), do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? > > Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake! ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/19 "2009-12-10T04:06:19Z")
The OP (and, to be fair, a lot of believers) seem to be conflating religious **belief** with religious **action**. Belief, per se, is not harmful; actions resulting from belief are harmful. We can and do regulate the latter. Of course, beliefs can lead to actions, but this does not have to be the case. Criminalizing the former is not only infeasible, but highly susceptible to abuse through the whims of whomever is in power at the time. Speaking as an agnostic-bordering-on-atheist, it is suggestions like these that make the phrase “militant atheism” more than just right-wing fear-mongering. Edit: I see that the OP is conducting a thought experiment. I’m going to subscribe to this thread to see what develops. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684/20 "2009-12-10T04:07:33Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > From A Man from All Seasons, by Robert Bolt. Thanks! that let me track down the [real quote](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Bolt#A_Man_for_All_Seasons_.281960.29): > [@](#): > > **Roper:** So now you’d give the Devil benefit of law! > > **More:** Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? > > **Roper:** I’d cut down every law in England to do that! > > \*\*More: \*\*Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you — where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast — man’s laws, not God’s — and if you cut them down — and you’re just the man to do it — d’you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake. EDIT: I see \*\*Captain Amazing \*\* beat me to it [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-believe-in-a-god-should-be-locked-up/520684.md?page=2)