# Why, exactly, do I need to respect religious beliefs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 27, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803 "2011-09-27T20:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803/161 "2011-10-03T02:18:49Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Ok, should Mormon Temples be required to allow non-Mormons to enter. > > Also, how do you do this without violating the right to freedom of association as granted by the Constitution? That/s what my answer was getting at. As unappealing as it certainly is, there is nothing to stop some group of nutjobs from worshiping Hitler, excluding Jews and blacks from their membership and services, and any number of other repulsive things. We can mess with the constitution, but I can’t see how we could restrict freedom of religion without restricting freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and freedom of association. I think the best we could manage is to eliminate all the tax benefits for churches – all churches of course, not just the “bad” ones. I am entirely in favor of this. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803/162 "2011-10-03T02:19:35Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Ok, should Mormon Temples be required to allow non-Mormons to enter. While I’m inclined to believe that within a house of worship, the members of such a house or worship should, in general and within limits, be allowed to act as they choose, this is a ridiculous comparison. The blacks and whites in the post you quoted, and the men and women in your post, are of the same religion. You are again stretching your analogies beyond reasonable limits. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803/163 "2011-10-03T02:28:37Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > While I’m inclined to believe that within a house of worship, the members of such a house or worship should, in general and within limits, be allowed to act as they choose, this is a ridiculous comparison. The blacks and whites in the post you quoted, and the men and women in your post, are of the same religion. You are again stretching your analogies beyond reasonable limits. Why? Orthodox Jews and most Muslims object to men and women praying together because they think it will cause men to think about sex. As a result they pray separately. If that’s what they want, I don’t see how we can stop them from doing that without violating freedom of association laws. That’s also why the Nation Of Islam can exclude whites from attending their meetings. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803/164 "2011-10-03T02:36:00Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > While I’m inclined to believe that within a house of worship, the members of such a house or worship should, in general and within limits, be allowed to act as they choose, this is a ridiculous comparison. The blacks and whites in the post you quoted, and the men and women in your post, are of the same religion. You are again stretching your analogies beyond reasonable limits. I don’t think so. I can’t think of any reason why a religion couldn’t allow only male or female members, and then not allow non-members in. Or for that matter, have some kind of half-assed junior membership for some group they don’t like, and not let THEM in for various services or rituals. Not that there’s anything right with that… ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803/165 "2011-10-03T02:42:18Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Orthodox Jews and most Muslims object to men and women praying together because they think it will cause men to think about sex. As a result they pray separately. > > … > > That’s also why the Nation Of Islam can exclude whites from attending their meetings. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I can’t think of any reason why a religion couldn’t allow only male or female members, and then not allow non-members in. Or for that matter, have some kind of half-assed junior membership for some group they don’t like, and not let THEM in for various services or rituals. On further reflection, I believe that both of you are correct, and that I jumped the gun in my response. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803/166 "2011-10-03T02:50:17Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > …it is often professed that religious beliefs should be respected … No, they should not. What you should respect is the choice a person makes to support a false claim - as long as it does not interfere with the well being of society. For example, a Christian should be respected in their choice to be a Christian in, let’s say 1785, but when they use their religion to justify slavery and torture then respect goes out the window and they have to be judged according to universal humanistic moral values (more on that on a different thread, maybe). It’s like the other popular notion we have - that family members should give their support to a criminal just because the criminal is family. Like religion, it’s understandable why people would have strong emotional ties with people in their family, siblings, parents, etc, but when it comes to their behavior, such expectation of blind support is destructive and immoral. Same goes with religion. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803/167 "2011-10-03T02:57:45Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Ok, should Mormon Temples be required to allow non-Mormons to enter. > > Also, how do you do this without violating the right to freedom of association as granted by the Constitution? I think not allowing non-Mormons is okay, because anyone can become Mormon. It’s when the requirement become Mormon and not female, that it crosses a line. You make a good point about Freedom of Association. I honestly don’t have an answer for you. I suppose it’d require Constitutional amendment, however mucking about with Bill of Rights opens up a lot of potential trouble that could be worse than the problem to be fixed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803.md?page=8)