This noodlehead stood up for his rights
Using a loophole to make a point
There’s a society that requires members to wear hilarious headgear.
When rights laws create legal loopholes to get certain rights, some people might find ways around it. Check out this Ted Talk by Niko Alm.
He’s trying to prove a point about equality.
In Canada, you can wear something on your head in your driver’s license photo only if there’s a religious requirement to wear it.
When this guy couldn’t wear a hat, he decided his rights were being violated.
So he made up a new religion. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Then he applied for his license with a colander on his head, claiming that he had to wear it as part of his religion.
A psychiatrist was called and asked him a few questions. Eventually, he was approved.
I have no problem with laws that protect people. No one should be abused or privileged because of their religion or beliefs.
Then there are exceptions based on physical needs, such as handicapped parking.
You might have:
a club that restricts membership to people from a specific school.
or a hall that won’t allow drinking on the premises.
Sometimes special rights granted are based on beliefs.
Ritual slaughter v.s. animal cruelty laws.
Some religions require food animals to be killed in ways that may be considered cruel.Carrying a ceremonial knife vs. public safety laws.
The right to carry a kirpan vs. zero-tolerance rules about carrying weapons.Another example is the right to pray at certain times of the day.
But what do you do when two rights conflict?
In a multicultural society, we are blessed with many interesting and diverse views and ways of living. We benefit from sharing the experiences and rituals of other cultures, and these practices enrich our society.
Different beliefs can create conflicts between societal rights and religious requirements and practices.
Freedom of religion is the right to practice your chosen religion in public and in private, without censure.
In some countries, your rights aren’t protected.
Religious and human rights and freedoms are complex areas.
We need to stay aware of the ways different organizations use these laws to allow behaviors that might otherwise be considered a violation of rights.
The duty to accommodate on religious grounds challenges our concepts of social values, secularism, and gender equality.
Lots of questions come out of this debate:
Will we bend our social traditions of inclusion?
Will we compromise our values for members of religions that won’t consider making any compromise themselves?
Will we defend someone’s right to violate someone else’s rights?
How can we protect the values of our society, especially religious freedoms, when some of the beliefs of the religion directly conflict with human rights?
And the BIG question:
How do we protect both religious and human rights when they conflict with each other?
I think we should put human rights first.
Discourage the creation of groups that operate according to their own laws within a country. (eg. Right-wing Christians, Sharia law)
Reinforce the powers of police systems to support human rights where they conflict with religious freedoms.
Strengthen human rights and freedom of speech laws over religious freedom laws in cases where the two conflict.
We need to support the values of our society.
It’s important to remain open to discussion. That’s the only way we’ll find solutions.
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