[*BCM*] Religious Legal Defence for Critical Mass

[Mars]

Personally, I would rather see an end to people hiding behind religion. 
Schoolchildren in this country are getting away with wearing shirts with 
hate-mongering messages because it's "religious", where if an atheist 
were to wear the same article of clothing, he or she would be expelled.

Attempting what has been proposed would nullify the purpose of CM as I 
see it. In my opinion, the objective of critical mass is to attempt to 
both reinforce and expand the rights of bicyclists on the road. By 
claiming the CM ride as a religious act, we are no longer making a 
political statement about our rights as cyclists; we are simply riding 
to appease our deity, or what have you.

In other words, instead of hoping that motorists, politicians, etc. will 
see us ride and maybe think to themself, "well gee, I guess bikers DO 
have rights to the road", they will see us and think, "there go those 
weirdo's with that strange religion"

Becky Thatcher wrote:
> Dear Bicycle Advocates,
> // 
> You might be interested to know that there is an actual religion that 
> considers Critcal Mass to be a bona fide form of religious expression. 
> This religion, called Matrixism, has recently received significant 
> attention in the popular and academic press. Not only is Critical Mass 
> considered by Matrixism to be a form of spiritual expression but one 
> of its holy days is in fact named "Bicycle Day".
>  
> Believe it or not this association could end up providing serious 
> legal leverage for the Critical Mass protest/education movement 
> especially in the United States.
>  
> Among other things Matrixism is based on the movie trilogy /The 
> Matrix/ and the writings of Aldous Huxley. In keeping with its 
> grassroots nature the URL for Matrixism is: 
> http://www.geocities.com/matrixism2069 .
>  
> If nothing else Matrixism is a very short and entertaining read. 
> Please pass this info along to anyone that you think may find it 
> interesting.
>  
> Sincerely,
>  
> Kim Mallet
>  
> PS  If you would like to see popular and scholarly references to 
> Matrixism you can find them here: 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Xoloz/Matrixism
>
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>
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