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Threat to Net Neutrality is a Threat to Freethought
DECEMBER 13, 2017 BY FREEDOM FROM RELIGION FOUNDATION
...This change would do more than jeopardize the ability to stream your favorite shows or movies for free — it would also threaten unpopular speech, including speech that is critical of religion. Not only that, internet service providers could effectively extort money from websites that want their visitors to have quick and easy access.
If your service provider is allowed to offer faster speeds to the highest bidder, wealthy religious organizations — such as the Catholic Church or evangelical megachurches — would benefit, while secular nonprofits like the Freedom From Religion Foundation would suffer. The website you’re on right now might take forever to load — or be blocked entirely — while articles in a well-funded Christian echo chamber could load immediately.
The growth of American freethought and the explosion of the nonreligious population over the last two decades is tied to the free flow of information and open access to facts that undercut religious myths and religious privilege. Secularism depends on the internet to continue its juggernaut-like advance.
Open web access has certainly played a major role in the flight of young Americans from the religion they were raised in. The internet is where religions go to die. Today, more than 43 percent of millennials and younger Americans are non-Christian. This includes 38 percent of younger Americans who are nonreligious — the fastest-growing religious identification in the country....
If your service provider is allowed to offer faster speeds to the highest bidder, wealthy religious organizations — such as the Catholic Church or evangelical megachurches — would benefit, while secular nonprofits like the Freedom From Religion Foundation would suffer. The website you’re on right now might take forever to load — or be blocked entirely — while articles in a well-funded Christian echo chamber could load immediately.
The growth of American freethought and the explosion of the nonreligious population over the last two decades is tied to the free flow of information and open access to facts that undercut religious myths and religious privilege. Secularism depends on the internet to continue its juggernaut-like advance.
Open web access has certainly played a major role in the flight of young Americans from the religion they were raised in. The internet is where religions go to die. Today, more than 43 percent of millennials and younger Americans are non-Christian. This includes 38 percent of younger Americans who are nonreligious — the fastest-growing religious identification in the country....
Read more at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/freethoughtnow/threat-net-neutrality-threat-freethought/#6wfgScc1SRMMFdov.99
