Reratile

I am tired of the idea that questioning religion automatically makes someone hateful. I have no issue with what religion anyone chooses to practise. That is your right. But your right to practise your religion does not create an obligation for everyone else to accommodate, fund or participate in it. That is where my concern about halaal certification comes in. When halaal certification appears on a huge portion of ordinary products, it no longer feels like something that exists simply to serve Muslim consumers. It feels like the wider public is expected to accept a religious certification system as the default, whether we believe in it or not. And yes, I have a problem with that. If certification costs are built into the products we all buy, then non-Muslim consumers are indirectly supporting a religious certification structure they did not choose. If almost every mainstream option carries that certification, then the argument that people can simply “choose something else” starts to ring hollow. Religious freedom should not mean that one religion's requirements become everybody else's default. I also reject the idea that Islam, Christianity or any other religion should be shielded from criticism because criticism might offend someone. There are aspects of Sharia law and the way it has been implemented in parts of the world that I fundamentally oppose, including the treatment of women, restrictions on individual freedom and child marriage. And I apply the same standard to Christianity. I was raised in a Catholic family and moved away from the faith in part because I cannot overlook the abuse of children by priests and the institutional protection and concealment that allowed that abuse to continue. I do not believe any religion deserves automatic reverence. People deserve respect. Ideas, institutions and religious systems do not automatically deserve it. If a belief system conflicts with human rights, women's rights, children's rights or individual freedom, I will criticise it. And if a religious certification system becomes so widespread that people who do not follow that religion are effectively expected to participate in it through everyday purchases, I think we are entitled to question that too. Religious freedom includes the freedom to practise religion. It must also include the freedom not to participate in someone else's.