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If governments are eventually forced to abandon the special privileges afforded by law to religions because of satirical mock-religions, then I think the countr
by Freak_NL 11y ago
If governments are eventually forced to abandon the special privileges afforded by law to religions because of satirical mock-religions, then I think the country as a whole benefits.
The question pastafarianism poses though, is how can you differentiate between satire and 'the real thing'? What if pastafarians claim that, yes, it started out as a joke, but now we really believe in His Noodly Appendage? As a normal citizen it isn't hard to conclude that 'obviously', this is satire, but law must not be based on what we feel is satire or religion, it has to be objective.
- arethuza 11y agoApparently some people argue that the absurdity of these religions can itself lead to a spiritual experience: "Several religions that are classified as parody religions have a number of relatively serious followers who embrace the perceived absurdity of these religions as spiritually significant" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody_religion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody_religion
- humanrebar 11y ago> If governments are eventually forced to abandon the special privileges afforded by law to religions because of satirical mock-religions, then I think the country as a whole benefits. I don't think it's so easy to disentangle freedom of expression and freedom of conscience from what some consider 'special privileges'. Of course, this varies widely by country. Some of the comments here might be talking past each other because everyone has a different idea about what might count as 'special' privileges.