When will they realise that loss of advantage is not the same as a loss of equality?

Evaluating how tolerant a liberal society must be of the intolerant is one of the thorny issues of our age. Many on the religious right are extremely excised about our failure to tolerate their intolerance. They warn of a future where religion will be a dirty little secret, hidden away from the intolerant liberal utopia of freedom and equality for all but them! They feel victimised, persecuted and beaten up (figuratively) because of their ‘Christian’ beliefs.

Why all the angst? What is so horrible about the future that has the religious right foaming at the mouth? The Gay, of course. Reproductive Justice, of course. Equality for all, under the law, of course. Within the never-ending hyperbole there has yet to be any recognition that of course no-one will be forcing anyone to enter into a same sex marriage. No-one will be forcing anyone to undergo an abortion against their will. However, within the liberal construct of the 21st century, people are demanding a fair playing field. To the religious right this is perceived as an oppression of their belief system, rather than what it is, the loss of a systemic and sustained, century’s long, advantage. As they fight to retain their right to dominate, as we will no longer tolerate their intolerance, the shock waves shuddering through the religious right are being felt by all of us. The last gasp?

What the religious right has failed to grasp is that loss of advantage does not mean loss of equality. A community does not become MORE intolerant when we ensure that people cannot be discriminated against based on colour, race, religion, sexuality or gender. The religious right, of course still have the right to practice their beliefs in any way they see fit, they, however, should not have the power to impose their belief systems on the wider legal framework anymore. Even as they fight to stay in power, they are losing the advantage…. at least one can only hope…