While adults are and should be free to believe what they will, unfortunately, this should not be carte blanche to start using undue influence to thrust their views on others and to use the threat of eternal damnation.
To illustrate why this is a serious matter, let's look at the following examples:
1) Mr. Rock, based on his interpretation of the scriptures, might sincerely believe that stoning someone else is scripturally justified. He might also believe that he is God's representative, and as such, is authorized to carry out God's will. Now, what would happen if Rock acted on his belief and decided to stone his neighbor, whom, he believed, was living contrary to God's laws? He would be charged with murder. Why? Because his right to personally believe something does not give him the right to inflict harm on or kill others.
2) Similarly, if Mr. Rock started to teach large numbers of people that it was acceptable to stone anyone they viewed as transgressing God's laws, he would be guilty of going well beyond his own personal belief about stoning and would be influencing and inciting others to violent, murderous behavior.
3) What if Rock decided that it wasn't enough to merely teach his views and he started to try force others to carry out his stoning mandate against their will? What if he told any who were reluctant that he would see to it that they never got to talk to their friends and family ever again?
4) And not content to control the adults, what if Mr. Rock made a cartoon for young children in order to shape their viewpoints before they had any type of life experience or ability to analyze information? What if the cartoon taught them that they were supposed to judge others' beliefs and choices, because God would punish any who didn't live a certain way? For Mr. Stone to inflict his own extreme views on trusting children who look to adults for answers, would be particularly heinous.
Rights and Freedoms Used to Trample on Others' Rights and Freedoms
When any party goes beyond their right to personally believe something and starts teaching their beliefs to large numbers of people, expecting others to comply and threatening destruction if they don't, and encouraging their followers to adopt this same type of mindset, that of judging others and believing they are slated for destruction, that party abuses the whole concept of religious rights and freedoms and tramples others' rights and freedoms.
Children Taught to Judge & Condemn
Sadly, a similar scenario unfolds in this anti-gay Pixar-like cartoon for kids. And as is typical, never is the intolerant viewpoint actually presented as group belief, rather it is passed off as coming from the ultimate authority, God. While the cartoon doesn't encourage young children to stone anyone, it does influence them to make a judgment about others' beliefs and choices as "wrong" and teaches children to try to "change" others--and as justification for this, children are taught that people need to change or they will be destroyed.
Worse still, young children are taught to embrace the group ideology as the ONLY way of viewing something.
Anti-Gay Cartoon
Cutesy Doesn't Cut it
The mother asks her daughter what she could say to her little friend. The cartoon carefully steps around the bottom line--that the same-sex parents cannot stay together, that the little girl's family would have to break apart--by focusing on the benefits (happiness, paradise, eternal life) of pleasing God. This rosy portrayal does nothing to address the emotional trauma of a family torn apart and treats it lightly under "people can change."
It is always interesting that groups that make much ado about freedom of belief and freedom of religion, are so quick to act to deny others those same freedoms.
Free to Harm?
The issue is not whether someone agrees with same-sex unions, not whether someone believes the Bible, not whether someone tries to live by what they believe to be Bible standards, the issue is, should individuals or religious groups be free to foist their beliefs off on others, if those beliefs could be deemed harmful? At some point, lines have to be drawn on undue influence that shapes and encourages behavior that is societally detrimental.
Links:
Jehovah's Witnesses Are Using a Sinister Anti-Gay Cartoon to Indoctrinate Kids
Jehovah's Witness Propaganda Video
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." Luke 6:37
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