I feel as though I should comment on some particularly disconcerting comments I heard this weekend regarding the stereotyping of individuals belonging to certain non-secular groups. In this day and age, in this country, and particularly amongst this group of people from which the comments came, I never would have expected to hear such things. While I remain ambiguous with regards to the identity of the individuals involved, the point is that this is the sort of talk that builds walls, not bridges, between cultures, religions and other societal groups, and has no place in a country which values individual rights and liberties, and the equality of all who live here. They are the kind of comments which, taken to the extreme, lead to crimes that are justified by their perpetrators by the belief that their actions are somehow justified since this group of people is somehow less human than they are. The Rwandan genocide and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans comes to mind.

I have always believed that religion leads to nothing but conflict and hatred, pitting one set of believers against another. All too often these conflicting value structures lead the different sets of believers to engage in verbal and emotional warfare at the very least, and violent conflict as the extreme, destroying lives in the process. I respect those who hold religious beliefs, regardless of their allegiances, for there are many ways through which they can provide comfort, security, sanctity, and other benefits to society as a whole. However, when commitment to these beliefs leads to the assumption that they are somehow more divine or inherently superior to any other, I can do nothing but shake my head and think to myself, does humanity never learn?