Shouldn't certain religious beliefs at least be a little bit discriminated against?

At least in the United States, "discrimination" has acquired an ugly connotation over the past 60+ years, in the sense of "unjust and unequal treatment of human beings based on differences that shouldn't matter."

But originally (and even now, I suppose, in contexts outside civil rights law), "discrimination" essentially meant "noticing and paying attention to differences that matter."

All the examples you give, markyyy, are of individuals who TAKE ACTIONS that may be motivated by superstitious beliefs that are contrary to reality and to the weight of scientific evidence, where those actions pose a serious risk of harm to others. The law generally has no trouble in regulating or otherwise dealing with the ACTIONS. In the case of the biology teacher who believes in the literal truth of a 6,000-year-old earth, special creation, and a Noachian deluge, so long as she sticks rigorously to the official biology curriculum in the classroom, she can privately believe what she wants. Similarly, a Christian Scientist adult can maintain his beliefs that all medical treatment should be refused in favor of prayer, but if he has a 2-year-old child that needs life-saving surgery that can be easily performed, a court order can be obtained to ensure that the child receives that surgery. I disagree with your example about the pilot who believes in a flat earth. Seems to me that this pilot would be fully capable of flying a plane even on a trans-oceanic flight, regardless of what he believes about the shape of the earth. How would his piloting differ?

Your last formulation of the question, "Why are religious beliefs less ridiculed than equally weird beliefs?" outside the religious realm, is an excellent one but really doesn't have anything to do with "discrimination." Ridicule is free speech, and in some settings it may be bad manners to engage in it, but it's not "discrimination" or illegal unless it amounts to an incitement to violence or discriminatory treatment -- for example, if I ridicule my employee's religious beliefs and that somehow directly leads to that person being fired.

I think that silly or irrational or groundless religious beliefs are ridiculed less than other non-religious superstitions because:

(a) Religious beliefs are so commonly held by so many people,

(b) Religious beliefs are regarded as much more important in people's lives than, say, belief in some other popular superstition such as astrology,

(c) Religous people KNOW that there really is no factual basis for most of their religious beliefs and that they continue to believe (or to PRETEND to believe) on "faith" alone; and

(d) Because of the flimsiness or fragility of many religious beliefs, the act of pointing out the silliness of someone else's religious beliefs is regarded as either cruel or foolhardy (A religious person who ridicules some other religious person's belief is like the person living in a huge glass condominium -- the stone that he throws is as likely to break his own window as to break his neighbor's window).

They are all the time.

The earth is flat, hopefully, where you are trying to land a plane. Those that land in hills have more problems even if they know astronomy.

Wouldn't want a biology teacher to know a lot about Noah's animals, or would you?

Believing smoking heals cancer is now being taught at what religion? This is your example of something equal to a religious belief?

What if someone (like Hitler) firmly believed in evolution and became a military leader and killed 10 million people, should we discriminate against evolutionists being in control of totalitarian states?

Because for some reason our culture regards religious belief as something not to be criticized.

I think it has to do with an overextension of first amendment rights (at least in the U.S.). People seem to think that "government shall make no law abridging the freedom of religion" means that the government has a duty to protect peoples' religious beliefs from being challenged.

EDIT:

I suppose it's that they don't see the difference between arbitrary forms of discrimination and those that are relevant to the profession at hand. For example, if I chose not to hire a doctor because he believed in God that would be discrimination. If, on the other hand, I chose not to hire a doctor because he believed that he could take the day off and God would cure his patients that would be perfectly legitimate.

Some people fail to realize the distinction, and I think perhaps that's why people are willing to tolerate strange religious beliefs even if they negatively affect other people.

very interesting question.

i think it has much to do with the simple fact that many religious beliefs are just that - religious - and therefore, MUST be "right."

the Christian Right is a classic example of this thinking. this small minority of Americans has adversly affected legislation since the days of the ERA (Equal Rights Act). people like Phylis Shaffley (spelled wrong, probably) and Anita Bryant came to the forefront, as women, opposing equal rights for women and minorities based on Biblical principles. chiefly, that women should be subordinate to men. the ERA Ammendment to the US Constitution failed to pass for many reasons, but the biggest reason was the political involvement of the newly coined Christian Right.

the loss of the ERA was and is a crushing blow to all Americans - many of the issues we face today would have been more clearly defined and legislated if this had been ammended to our Constitution.

Well, I believe some of the things you mentioned. I believe the Noah's Ark story, but I did very well in biology and enjoyed it. I believe that God *can* heal cancer, but I think I would still make a decent doctor if I chose that path.

I'd be interested in discussing it more...but this isn't the place.

I am a nurse and I do believe that God can heal people. I also feel that in my job my training and God's inspiration help me to care for my patients. Just because I believe God can heal doesn't mean if you go into a cardiac arrest I will pray and wait for God to heal you. I will use my training while I pray that God allows the treatment to be successful. Just because I believe that God made things does not mean I cannot keep my feeling out, and teach children what the theories of evolution are. I don't think God approves of home sexuality. However, I know God loves people who are gay and that they deserve the respect any person should get. I take care of gay people at work, work with them, and have no problem interacting with someone who is gay. I have never treated a patent who is homosexual with any less respect and care due to their sexual orientation. Faith is not a weird belief to me, and my faith in God does not make less qualified to have a profession.

I totally agree with you! Everyone wants to be politically correct, they don't want to criticize religious beliefs because they hold it to some higher standard. It's BS! Religious beliefs should be scrutinized just like everything else. Religious beliefs are protected (someone can be a homophobe and get away with it by claiming religious beliefs). It's not right!

In the US that is not possible to discriminate against a Christian, the majority professed organized "faith". It is indirectly eliminated by law, one being the Privacy Act of 1974 which made it legal to hire religiously preferential personnel that were status quo of that time period, which was still Christian, placing those people at the top of the heap in all power, privilidge and prestige positions and favoring them in such ways. This Act, this law, made it illegal to enforce minority quotas on religion because it made it illegal to collect that information in hiring and promotions etc within organizations in the US.

So what we have here is a conglomeration of the long time members of Catholic and other prominent Christian churches, whether heavy participants, more than likely not outspoken on their views, who give money to those organizations in heavy numbers, making them more charitable appearing with basically a religious ego holding down that fort, pointing to all the charitableness they possess, some not even attending church but just giving so they can keep their names in good standing there in a spirit of "mysterious giving for Christ", programmed not to ask what Jesus was about nor debate it...just take what power, privilidge and prestige they can from it.

So these people have been in place for decades here, extended from european influence, and they have promoted their buddies and their families into the higher positions "higher power", and they are not open to debate on their beliefs. They do not allow anyone to question their beliefs! They have accepted and they want you to accept, "the mystery of Christ's love", disregarding any greater works and spirit after him from John 14 12, and disregarding the spirit of slavery they are bonded to, because it is not only not open to discussion, but if you dare to question, that gives "them" permission to make life very tough for you and your family.

Some of them even go to the extent to defame you, break into your house and move things around, give you flat tires, damage bearings on automobiles, infringe on your humble property that you have already had to work way more than they ever would have had to to get the huge mansions they have.

They even allow their sinners more privilidge than you, saying that they are saved in afterlife and that therefore sin does not matter.

They claim these sins are bad, but they forgive the sinners more and more and more power privilidge and prestige, less hardship materially, if they will only say that Jesus was God himself and perfect while he was on earth 2000 years ago!

Often some of these Christians are ruthless, and they really do not realize how much hurt they cause to honest hard working people! They just don't get it! And they feel entitled and enable each other to do it more.... unless you keep your mouth shut or lie and say you agree with them!

Healing be unto you and yours and me and mine in

Forgive Affirmed Spirit

Nope I am with you. If you can not accept science as it is, then you should not be able to teach it. If you can not accept the modern concept of equal rights, then you have no right to monitor it.

If Christianity does not change to embrace what we now know is truth (and will only find MORE evidence of) then it will die. They can claim it won't all the want, but the Church could only deny the earth was round for so long.

I think it is just a matter of numbers. And the consequent leverage. It is somehow accepted because a lot of people hold religious beliefs, even if they can greatly differ. This influence, sadly, a lot of things, from politics to everyday life.