NO DISCUSSIONS OF POLITICS OR RELIGION

Many MeetUp discussion groups are promoting rules like these:

·       *No discussions of politics or religion!

·       *No judgement and be accepting of other group members!

While these groups explicitly state that they want to bring people of diverse points of view together, these rules guarantee that only those who share the prevailing secularized religion will find a seat at these tables.

These groups certainly have a right to set their rules and to include and exclude those who do not fit into their membership requirements, whether they intend their group to only be for pregnant mothers or the transgendered. I would just ask them to be transparent about their intentions.

To give a more extreme example, some groups merely say, “No proselytizing.” However, this prohibition is generally understood to apply only to Christians. This prohibition is never applied in an unbiased manner. I say this because everyone is proselytizing in one manner or another. Everyone has their point of view, which they want others to value or even accept, even if it is only a matter of, “Look how bright (or learned or nice or congenial) I am!” However, even if they are merely selling themselves, they will never be accused of “proselytizing” or of trying to win others to themselves.

Well then, what’s wrong with the prohibition against “discussions of politics or religion?” If this injunction was merely against uncivil, heated, and disrespectful discussion of these topics, I’d certainly agree with it.

However, these prohibitions amount to “viewpoint discrimination.” Let me try to explain. Everyone has their set of values, beliefs, or even religions. I have gone to several mental health support groups. It is common to hear participants encouraging others with statements like, “You can do it.” Can we really do it? Isn’t this based upon the belief that we can change ourselves or at least our feelings and reactions! Or “You can be whatever you want to be. You’ve just got to believe in yourself!” Perhaps such value-laden admonitions are merely laying an extra weight upon our shoulders, giving us another goal by which to fail.

More to the point, is this message any less religious than, “You’ve got to believe in God?” Hardly! Nevertheless, the mental health community and worldview are committed to a religion of self-help, group-help, or psycho-therapeutic help but not to God-help. Consequently, I am frequently silenced and reminded that, “Not everyone here believes in God.” Essentially, what they are saying is that, “You’ve got to believe like the rest of us, or you have no place here.”

If they would merely advertise their group as, “This is just for people who are willing to believe in themselves and not in God,” I’d have no objection. We should have this right. However, the truth be told, we’d prefer to not be unmasked and our blatant biases revealed. Instead, we want to think of ourselves as open-minded and accepting of all comers. Rather, today’s secularism leaves little room for oppositional points of view.

If secularism wants to promote a Gulag of group-think, it should be explicit about this. It should not hide itself behind a banner of “neutrality,” “tolerance,” and “compassion” with rules like, “No judgement and be accepting of other group members!” Is secularism really accepting?