I *absolutely* don't think we can be dismissive of the harmful aspects of religion. (Nor can I deny that many people find peace, community, joy, and hope in it...to me, it's kind of silly and pointless and I feel that I can find those things elsewhere, but who am I to deny that religion has done good as well?) Many religious organizations host soup kitchens for homeless people because they feel it imitates Jesus, but also may simultaneously hold sexist beliefs that put men above women. I can speak out against the one and recognize the positive contribution of the other. Of course I don't hope I'm the victim of an ISIS terrorist attack. I also hope I'm never in a Planned Parenthood clinic when an evangelical zealot opens fire. I work in the research center of a hospital. I hope an animal-rights extremist never bombs our building. I hope a lot of things. Evil, destructive people will always exist of all stripes. Religions, causes, and ideals are just tools or channels for them.
Secularism is spreading - many more people are openly non-religious now than at any other point in history, and that's good. I am all for encouraging that, but you can't just ban religion. It sets a dangerous precedent and a slippery slope, not to mention it just encourages a deeper ideological divide...it gives religious people a reason to feel persecuted rather than going "hey, these atheists are actually reasonable/rational people and my neighbors and don't wish me any harm. I guess I was wrong about them". I don't wish to ban religion...I wish for harmful practices to be outlawed. Terrorist attacks are *already* illegal. The disfellowshipping rule really can't be effectively legislated because ultimately it is a personal choice issue. Families become estranged for all sorts of reasons; shunning is a stupid/wrong/bad choice, but it *is* a choice that people make, to prioritize their religion above their family. You can't force people to accept their family. Better to focus on things that can make a difference - mandate reporting of ALL child abuse allegations, everywhere (some states do, some states don't), and then sue the fuck out of them when they don't deliver. Don't allow parents to deny children proper medical care. You brought up the Children of God...incest and child molestation are already illegal; it was appropriate for the government to interfere. (The Children of God still exist, by the way, just under a different name.) Do what you can to counteract demonstrably harmful *practices* legally.
But a bunch of poor rank-and-file Russian peasant saps, who already live in a pretty grim country, are going to be imprisoned and possibly tortured and killed over this. This doesn't hurt the GB much, minus the negligible impact on their wallets by having their property seized. But I bet all of the apostate rejoicing across the internet over the past few days sure does feed the JW persecution complex. I feel like the better, and more rational attitude, would be "I don't agree with your religion, and I think the way you treat outsiders is cruel. But I do not support what Russia has done; it is wrong, and as a fellow human being with the capacity for empathy, I recognize that." I saw someone criticizing a JW for wishing harm upon "worldlies" further up...didn't we all leave because we wanted to be better people than that? Actively cheering a banning that will certainly result in harm upon innocents (and will do zero to convince JWs that their beliefs are B.S.) is no better, and tantamount to vengeance and schadenfraude. I wish for their safety and eventual enlightenment instead.
