One sided laws

 

The commencement of the trial of terrorists allegedly involved in the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris this week has raised the issue of blasphemy laws in the media again. Predictably those countries with regimes that are theocratic in character and, if truth be known, probably most insecure politically (i.e. Islamic ones like Pakistan) are up in arms about the re-publishing of the famous "Mohammed cartoons" by the satirical magazine. These states claim that these images offend "a billion Muslims" around the World, this is utter BS, 99.99% of those people will never even see these images and even if they did they would almost certainly be adult and rational enough to simply ignore them and get on with their day (as most reasonable Human beings would when faced with an abstract image on a piece of paper) 

It's the religious institutions (i.e. clergy) and the Governments propped up by those religions that are the ones who most often cry wolf in these situations, and frankly we should stand firm against them by asserting that we value our principals over their feelings. Freedom of speech and conscience are far, far more important than the personal beliefs and opinions of any frothing dictator, Pope, Imam or Bishop, under our system they can believe and say whatever they like, but the days when superstition has supremacy over reason should be far behind our species. 

Andrew Copson (Chief Executive of Humanists UK) put it well when he said on a TV interview today, 

"A Muslim is free to tell me that my beliefs are wrong, that there is a God and that Mohammed is his Prophet. A Christian is equally free to tell me the same in relation to their beliefs. Likewise, I am able to tell them that I think that they are both wrong. Together, as equals, we can have this debate.

What we cannot have is one side of that debate trying to silence the other by law, and that’s what blasphemy laws do. They sanction violence in the pursuit of that. That’s one of the reasons why it’s important for all civilized men and women to stand against blasphemy laws.”