Because if it isn’t then millions of people in this country will openly be discriminated against because of their religion.
I’m Jewish. Do I really need to explain why I think having protections for my religious beliefs is a good idea? There are more LGBT people than Jews in America. We are a small minority who has historically been heavily discriminated against, and that discrimination is ongoing right now. Antisemitism has gotten significantly more out in the open over the last decade. I can confidently state that had I not been protected by laws, I likely wouldn’t have gotten into college, gotten my first job, or had many of the opportunities that I’ve had in life. I know friends who have been told to their faces that an employer didn’t want to hire them because they were jews.
I don’t really care if religion is “unscientific,” for people who are religious is a critical part of who they are and, more importantly, a lot of other people (religious and not) assign it just as much importance and will happily discriminate against, ostracize, and even kill people for being the “wrong” religion if allowed to do so. I can’t just “give up” by Jewishness because it’s a deeply ingrained part of who I am, and asking me to “just stop” is frankly as offensive as telling a gay person to “just stop” believing they are gay. And, more importantly, even if I completely rescinded all of my belief in my religious beliefs AND stopped doing all Jewish activities, got rid of all my Jewish paraphernalia, converted to Christianity and lived openly as a Christian, there are still people who would consider me Jewish and discriminate against me simply for having Jewish parents.
YOU might not like religion, and I completely understand why so many people feel that way, but removing religions from being protected classes Isa really great way to guarantee millions of people get discriminated against every single day.
I get where you’re coming from, but let’s be explicit about your specific use case, with regard to an issue you yourself pointed to with your example of what would happen if you openly converted to Christianity:
People who discriminate against Jews are generally doing it because of Jewish cultural identity, not anyactual beliefs of Judaism. I would wager a lot of money on those bigots not having a single clue what Jewish people actually believe.
What I’m driving at is that “religion” as a protected class is growing less and less useful every day, in no small part because bigots love to use it as a shield for their own hate. The protection may need to be updated to reflect broader cultural identifiers beyond what box you would check on a census form.
Because if it isn’t then millions of people in this country will openly be discriminated against because of their religion.
I’m Jewish. Do I really need to explain why I think having protections for my religious beliefs is a good idea? There are more LGBT people than Jews in America. We are a small minority who has historically been heavily discriminated against, and that discrimination is ongoing right now. Antisemitism has gotten significantly more out in the open over the last decade. I can confidently state that had I not been protected by laws, I likely wouldn’t have gotten into college, gotten my first job, or had many of the opportunities that I’ve had in life. I know friends who have been told to their faces that an employer didn’t want to hire them because they were jews.
I don’t really care if religion is “unscientific,” for people who are religious is a critical part of who they are and, more importantly, a lot of other people (religious and not) assign it just as much importance and will happily discriminate against, ostracize, and even kill people for being the “wrong” religion if allowed to do so. I can’t just “give up” by Jewishness because it’s a deeply ingrained part of who I am, and asking me to “just stop” is frankly as offensive as telling a gay person to “just stop” believing they are gay. And, more importantly, even if I completely rescinded all of my belief in my religious beliefs AND stopped doing all Jewish activities, got rid of all my Jewish paraphernalia, converted to Christianity and lived openly as a Christian, there are still people who would consider me Jewish and discriminate against me simply for having Jewish parents.
YOU might not like religion, and I completely understand why so many people feel that way, but removing religions from being protected classes Isa really great way to guarantee millions of people get discriminated against every single day.
I get where you’re coming from, but let’s be explicit about your specific use case, with regard to an issue you yourself pointed to with your example of what would happen if you openly converted to Christianity:
People who discriminate against Jews are generally doing it because of Jewish cultural identity, not anyactual beliefs of Judaism. I would wager a lot of money on those bigots not having a single clue what Jewish people actually believe.
What I’m driving at is that “religion” as a protected class is growing less and less useful every day, in no small part because bigots love to use it as a shield for their own hate. The protection may need to be updated to reflect broader cultural identifiers beyond what box you would check on a census form.