Government Communique from the United Socialist States of Gladia
The United Socialist States of Gladia has a government that seeks to protect its people, and give them an equal socialist utopia where they may prosper. We seek to prohibit things that will be counter-productive to this goal. That is why, effective immediately, Gladia is banning the expression of religious belief.
Gladia has had a long history of irreverence towards religion in society and politics. As of our last census, less than four percent of Gladians practice any religion, and the rest are atheist, agnostic, or have no religion. This means that our new ban on religious expression will not affect a large amount of people in Gladia. It is also considered a sign of independence and intelligence to forsake religion in our society. Furthermore, many religions tend to have hateful views on groups such as homosexuals, which contradicts our idea of an equal socialist utopia.
The U.S.S.G. has also seen the rise of fundamentalist religious groups who wish to cause chaos and violence in countries it feels are a threat to its ideology. Many of these groups perform horrible acts of terrorism and hate crimes in their home country that kill and scar thousands of people every day. This is something that Gladia will not allow to occur, and banning expression of religion will prevent groups such as these from entering our country and expanding their hateful ideology.
We have also witnessed many theocratic countries creating dictatorships that have horrible records of human rights and freedom of speech. These countries institute draconian punishments for very basic things, such as not wearing traditional religious clothing or blaspheming the deities of the state religion. It would be a travesty to have such a form of government find its way into Gladia. The ban on expression of religion would prevent any revolutions from springing up that call for the institution of a theocracy.
If somebody openly expressed their religious beliefs and opinions, it should be reported by any citizen witnessing the event to the local police. A citizen who witnesses such a crime being committed and fails to report it within a week will be given a three year prison sentence. A citizen who expresses their beliefs will be sentenced to a five year prison sentence. During their time in prison, they will spend an hour and thirty minutes every day learning the arguments against the existence of God, among other things related to science and rationality. They must renounce their faith before they are allowed to leave as well.
This law will not apply to tourist who are currently residing in Gladia. If a foreign tourist breaks this law , they shall simply be removed from the country and barred from visiting again for a year. Furthermore, we are allowing foreign countries who have emigrants in Gladia to return them to their home country if they wish to do so.
Thank you,
Nicolae Makonson
General Secretary of the Gladian Fatherland Communist Party
