Exactly. And you tell them in no unertain terms that they are wrong, instead of making excuses because "it's their culture" or because of freedom of religion.
Harmful ideologies do not get a free pass in my book just because they claim divine backing.
Agreed but it works both ways - non-religious harmful ideologies can be almost as bad.
What proportion of people - even of western college-educated liberals - genuinely, in their heart of hearts, supports free speech even when it's speech they disagree with, freedom of religion even when it's a religion they disagree with, and all the other enlightenment values? I fear it's pretty low.
I support freedom of speech - absolute and unrestricted. I don't support freedom of religion, but support freedom from religion - no other human should be able to force religion on other. The religion should be private matter to the individual and individual alone.
Try suggesting that Americans give up their guns, and you'll hear a lot about culture. Suggest that some places in USA don't fly a CSA flag and you'll hear about culture. Tell some christians that they need to teach their kids that's it's OK to be gay, and you'll hear a lot about religion and freedom of religion.
The veil of ignorance [1] is a very nice step in the quest for a universal human morality. It abstracts away culture and makes biases and prejudices painfully clear, whatever the cultural background to reveal universal human values.
Try to imagine being a black islamic lesbian undocumented immigrant in a small bible belt town. You have little knowledge of the English language. An immunology disorder makes it dangerous for you to get a vaccination. Your hobby is collecting fossils.
Your neighbors would have to throw quite a bit of their culture out of the window if they really want to treat you with the respect you deserve as a human. Good people will make the effort, and rightly so.
True. But for the most part, it is just talk. They don't throw you off a building for being gay as a rule (there are hate crimes committed, but they are unfortunate exceptions, not a rule).
