Angry Atheist at War with Human Rights

In an open letter to the Swedish government, atheist activist Eduardo Grutzky writes (in my translation):

All children belong to us all; and all children should have access to a reality-based education that fosters autonomous individuals. Children are neither Communists, nor Muslims, nor Jews. They are merely children to parents who are Communists, Muslims, and Jews.*

This the usual distortion of the Humanist Association. They love this idea about ethnicity being an ideology. And as always, Grutzky goes on to list a number of prohibitions that would criminalise minority groups. Multiculturalism is the big threat a violation of minority people’s human rights.

Let me remind everyone of what the Framework for the Protection of National Minorities, adopted in Strasbourg in 1995, says about assimilation. Article 5:

1. The Parties undertake to promote the conditions necessary for persons belonging to national minorities to maintain and develop their culture, and to preserve the essential elements of their identity, namely their religion, language, traditions and cultural heritage.

2. Without prejudice to measures taken in pursuance of their general integration policy, the Parties shall refrain from policies or practices aimed at assimilation of persons belonging to national minorities against their will and shall protect these persons from any action aimed at such assimilation.

Jews are a national minority in Sweden. So, Grutzky’s version of “human rights” has very little to do with the reality-based human rights. Forcing minority people to assimilate is a crime, and it makes me angry that this heterosexual try to milk the gay-rights movement’s advances to legitimise discrimination against other minorities. Grutzky makes the case that subcultures shouldn’t be allowed because they harbour homophobia. Sure, homophobia is real problem in a number of religious communities, but had it not been for the liberty to chose a subculture before the mainstream, gay rights would be nonexistent. It was people like myself who challenged the homophobic mainstream by refusing to assimilate and take pride in our own culture and identity. So, don’t be fooled by the likes of Grutzky. A society that doesn’t allow it members to opt out of the mainstream is not free.

*Grutzky’s text in Swedish: “Alla barn är allas barn, alla barn ska få tillgång till en verklighetsbeskrivning som fostrar autonoma individer. Barn är inte kommunister, muslimer eller judar, de är barn till föräldrar som kan vara kommunister, muslimer eller judar.”