If left wing radical governments in democracies are persecuting Christians by criminalising Christian beliefs, there is a very easy and simple way of stopping them.

Do a Mahatma Ghandi.

Every Christian minister of every denomination should present themselves to their local police station and declare openly to the police that they promote beliefs that are illegal. Then ask the police to charge them and lock them up.

A similar thing happened in NSW under the Carr labor government. A bunch of lefty social workers in charge of overseeing palliative care hospitals, some run by the Catholic Church, that elderly said people had a "right" to sex. They demanded that all palliative care hospitals provide a room where elderly people could have sex.

The Catholic nuns and priests told them to shove it. When the neo Marxist bureaucrats threatened to charge them and jail them, the priests and nuns said "Fine, do it."

It was at this point that Premier Bob Carr stepped in and told the bureaucrats to back off.

I may be an enemy of the Catholic Church but I admire courage, and I admire people fighting for their freedom from out of control bureaucracies who are exceeding their authority.

Dear Yuyutsu, I would remind you of the 'grown ups' over the age of 5 who regularly lead the chant in churches all over the place, of the famous prayer that begins "Our Father that art in heaven..." If this isn't a reference to an invisible man in the sky I don't know what is. And ... if they don't believe it, why are they persisting with enforcing this on everyone else? But then, that's the real question isn't it?

Dear Aries,

Let me keep my answers short and simple, but do let me know if you require and have the patience for any deeper metaphysical explanations:

1. "Father" is a term of endearment for God in the Judaeo-Christian traditions - it is not to be understood literally.
2. Heaven is not in the sky (or anywhere else in the world for that matter).
3. God is not a man (or any other sort of creature, be it in the sky or anywhere else).
4. No seriously religious person would want to enforce their religion on others. That would be an especially silly thing to do because each one of us has their own special and sacred path to God, their own religion. Please understand that just because someone calls themselves "Christian" (for example) does not necessarily imply that they are religious.

So Yuyutsu

Let me get this clear. You are now saying that none of this is supposed to be taken literally. It is all metaphysical symbolism. Pardon me if I don't swallow that. What a pity that so many followers of the Christian religion (of which the prayer I referred to earlier belongs) so regularly and often cherry pick bits to be taken literally and those which are only 'metaphysical symbolism'. (Wives should follow their husbands unquestioningly springs to mind.)

I also refer you to your point #4 - No seriously religious person would want to enforce their religion on others.
What total B.S. The Roman Catholic sect of the Christian religion around the world is famous for its maltreatment of those who didn't follow their instructions (think unwed mothers, indigenous peoples in St. America - we could go on, but I won't) and you are surly ignoring the recruitment drives of missionaries who uninvited have knocked on your door to convince you of the benefits of allowing Jesus into your life. It has certainly happened to me as recently as last week.

Personally I want the right to be free FROM religion enshrined in the law of the land.

"Much more crucial is the denial of one's ability to carry out certain ordained physical acts of worship, yet the most serious and horrific of all is the forcing of religious people to perform actions that are proscribed by their religion. This must never be allowed to happen."

I see two opposing arguments here.

The first is the Christian bakery being asked to make a penis-shaped rainbow wedding cake with two men embracing on top.

If we say 'They are allowed to say no to this'
Then argument two now becomes valid:

The second is when the Muslim cab driver tells then blind woman with the guide dog that he's not taking her anywhere with the dog in the car.

Do you see it creates a dilemma.

What do we do?
Ban Christians from owning bakeries?
Ban Muslims from driving cabs?

That would then discriminate against the Christians and Muslims
In the same way the Christians and Muslims sought to discriminate against the gays and the bling with guide dogs, right.

So whats the answer?
The answer is, your religious beliefs are your own.
And you can't discriminate against people in a business environment.
You can't refuse service on the basis of religious, racial or political beliefs etc.

And so...

If you're a Christian and you want to own a bakery.
Don't offer a cake decorating services in the first place;
If you're a Muslim and you have an issue with a guide dog in your cab
- Then don't be a cab driver - choose something else.

If your religious beliefs prevent you from acting in a non-discriminatory way, then you should choose a different business or occupation.

Dear Aries,

«You are now saying that none of this is supposed to be taken literally.»

I was referring to the title of endearment, "Father who art in heaven": when a husband calls his wife "honey", he doesn't mean that she tastes sweet and was gathered by bees.

«What a pity that so many followers of the Christian religion (of which the prayer I referred to earlier belongs) so regularly and often cherry pick bits to be taken literally...»

Hold your horses: who ever said that Christianity is a religion?

This prayer was (allegedly at least) composed by Jesus, who wasn't a Christian and is also well respected in other religions.

This prayer has spiritual depth and reducing it to a literal level is ridiculous: should for example those with Celiac disease avoid asking "give us this day our daily bread"?

«The Roman Catholic sect of the Christian religion around the world is famous for its maltreatment...»

It is arguable whether they were Christians, their acts were irreligious, nor have they followed the teachings of Jesus Christ.

«you are surly ignoring the recruitment drives of missionaries who uninvited have knocked on your door to convince you of the benefits of allowing Jesus into your life.»

But if time allows, I am glad for the opportunity to teach them a thing or two about God and help them bring Him into their lives.

«Personally I want the right to be free FROM religion enshrined in the law of the land.»

How could that help you?
It would be like legislating to exempt certain people from the law of gravity, or permit them to exceed the speed of light - religion is everywhere, religion makes the world go round, not just people but even a rock has its religion and will eventually reunite with God, however long it takes.

But suppose what you meant was to prevent people from being told things and dictated by churches and similar so-called "religious" organisations, then I am all for it and also request similar freedoms for the religious to not be dictated by secular organisations.