You can be pretty sure that whenever anybody tries to silence you for daring to criticise their ideas, it is because those ideas aren't very good. That's the primary message to take from this. Remember it the next time a Muslim tries to object to a critique of their holy texts, or a Christian demands respect for their deeply held beliefs. Bet every last dollar you have on the fact that what they believe, and what they want you to believe is grade one, undiluted horse manure.
Which is why I don't want them to stop.
In fact, I want them to keep talking. I want them to speak up, to tell the world what they're for? So stand up radical cleric, and mount that soapbox of yours. Clear your throat and broadcast the message; I want the whole darn world to understand.
Christian friends, so wonderfully kind and decent; tell us all about how a corpse reanimated, or about the time when a donkey talked, or a virgin gave birth, or a snake told a girl in a garden to steal some fruit. Stand up and give a full account, and let us know what you stand for? Say what you believe; no more metaphor or treading around the edges.
Are you receiving this transmission? I'm giving you a soapbox, asking you to speak up and emerge from cover. Because every time you do it let's us all have a closer look. And the closer we look the more we see the cracks, the contradictions, the sheer inanity of the ideas you've embedded in your mind.
Please don't be offended. And don't just demand respect, or gripe when people dare to fire back. If your ideas are that sound, your theology so robust, your faith so cast iron, then really you've nothing to fear.
A final suggestion, dear believer. Delivered in the spirit of direct language. We know how very good you are at agreeing among yourselves. Your church, or that Mosque is full of like minded souls; and it's just so easy to convince yourself that there's more to your convictions than hope. I'm inviting you to prove it, cordially encouraging you to emerge from safety, from the soft embrace of the like minded and put your ideas where it hurts.
Then, and only then, are you worthy of any real respect.
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