On Sept. 30, 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 editorial cartoons, most of which pictured the Islamic prophet Muhammad ― an act that is considered blasphemous under Islamic law. Subsequent riots around the world, as well as attacks on Danish and other European diplomatic buildings and on Christians and their churches, resulted in some 200 deaths.
In support of Jyllands-Posten and the Western concept of freedom of expression, many periodicals bravely republished the cartoons. One of them was the Council for Secular Humanism’s Free Inquiry magazine. Further, in 2009 the council declared Sept. 30 International Blasphemy Rights Day, “as a bold response to the worldwide crackdown on the right to free expression.”
In 2006, the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo republished all 12 Jyllands-Posten cartoons, resulting in claims of racism by French Muslim organizations. In 2011, its offices were firebombed, with no injuries, after it published a cover cartoon of Muhammad.
Then on January 7, 2015, two Islamist gunmen entered the Hebdo offices and shot and killed 12 people and wounded 11 others. Remaining staff announced that the next week’s edition of Charlie Hebdo, the “survivors’ issue,” would be published on schedule. And supporters of free expression as exemplified by this action have since adopted the phrase Je suis Charlie, French for “I am Charlie.”
Blasphemy Laws Worldwide
According to the International Humanist and Ethical Union’s 2016 Freedom of Thought Report, there are 74 countries with laws against blasphemy or other forms of defamation of religion (other than bona fide hate speech). Remarkably, there are nine countries in Europe with blasphemy laws still on the books: Germany, Poland, Italy, Denmark, Greece, Malta, Finland, Austria and Ireland, which in 2009 passed the only new blasphemy law of the 21st century.
According to the Pew Research Center, 10 out of 35 countries in the Americas ― including otherwise progressive Canada ― had blasphemy laws in 2014. Although the United States does not have a federal blasphemy law, several states do.
The most punitive laws against blasphemy or apostasy (abandoning one’s religion, including becoming an atheist) are on the books in Muslim countries, where offending religious sensibilities can result in a long prison sentence, torture or worse. In 13 countries (Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen) blasphemy is punishable by death. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are the most zealous in inflicting this penalty.
At the same time, numerous international bodies and nonprofit organizations, including the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations and the European Union, consider blasphemy laws a violation of human rights or of international law.
Meanwhile, in Christian-majority America
Unlike in Muslim countries, being a blasphemer, apostate, atheist, or member of a non-Christian religion in the United States generally does not put one’s life in danger. However, religiously motivated incidents, such as white supremacists attacking counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, should give us pause about the current religion-driven political climate.
A recent study by Baylor University identified “The Sacred Values of ‘Trumpism’” that are transforming the nominally secular United States into a dystopian theocracy. The study found that the majority of people who voted for Donald Trump (among other things):
Are “very religious” white Evangelical Protestants Think the United States is a Christian nation Think Muslims threaten America Think women are inferior to men and should be relegated to traditional family roles Oppose LGBT rights, such as same-sex marriageSpeaking as an atheist and secular humanist, these survey results clearly show that the election of Trump was a religious experience that defined true Christianity. Although Hillary Clinton seems to have genuine religious convictions and Trump demonstrably does not, Trump and his cohorts do hate all the right people: foreigners, Muslims, women, gays, non-Christians in general.
In fairness to Evangelicals, however, these values alone are not what are shaking our latent theocracy from its slumber. Those values are underpinned by numerous violations of the doctrine of separation of church and state to which Americans have consistently acquiesced:
A deity is mentioned in every state constitution. Despite a 1961 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the principle that a religious test should not be required to hold public office (Article IV of the U.S. Constitution), seven states (Maryland, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas) still have constitutional provisions denying atheists that right.
Churches have been exempted from some $71 billion per year in taxes. Meanwhile, many preach politics from the pulpit in violation of federal tax code. The words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance during the McCarthy era, and they remain. Religious monuments adorn the lawns of courthouses, county buildings and other public properties across the land.
It’s Time to Say, “Je suis Charlie”
It is considered impolite to examine or question another person about his or her religious beliefs ― much less criticize or ridicule those beliefs. It’s called belief in belief. It’s what got us into our current fix. And blasphemy is the most effective remedy for it.
The reality is that people follow the same religion as their parents or convert from one religion to another with little or no intellectual effort ― including learning the actual theology. Yet in order to avoid having their professed beliefs critically examined, the pious dodge the bullet of reason by claiming to be offended by such questions.
But no one has a right not to be offended. And when someone whose mind has been numbed by religion thoughtlessly and self-righteously tells you “you can’t be good without God,” “the Ten Commandments are the basis of all morality,” or “the United States is a Christian nation,” he does not have a right not to be offended back.
Despite a social convention that assumes the inherent virtue of everyone who expresses fealty to a supreme being, truly ethical people should find it difficult to regard as well-meaning those believers who bomb abortion clinics, march with the Ku Klux Klan, or even force other people’s children to recite Christian prayers in public school.
The election of Trump as president of the United States is proof positive that people who believe the ridiculous stories in the Bible will believe just about anything. Religion is anti-science, anti-reason, anti-intellectual. It encourages believers to blindly and uncritically take things on authority. It promotes hatred of a broad range of people who don’t hold the same beliefs or follow the same behavioral norms as the pious. And if you’re concerned about the fate of Western civilization, consider that a study by Boston University found that children (our future citizens and leaders) who were raised in religious households are “less able to distinguish fantasy from reality.”
People are entitled to believe any improbable nonsense they like, as long as it is not incorporated into public policy or supported by tax dollars. But belief in belief is enabling Trump and his appointees to dismantle some 60 years of social and environmental progress right under the noses of those who will be ravaged the most.
The time has come for people of reason not to be intimidated by Islamists, Evangelicals, other religious fanatics, and the religious moderates and apologists who are abetting them. While individuals deserve respect regardless of what religion they follow, their beliefs do not. And those beliefs should be open to examination and criticism. The best and by far the most humane way to rid humanity of the scourge of religion is through criticism, ridicule and sincere blasphemy ― not feigned or coerced respect.
Richard E. Wackrow is president of the Flathead Area Secular Humanist Association in Montana and author of the book Beginner’s Guide to Blasphemy.
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