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9 March, 2006
Religious intolereance and Danish cartoons

Of course, given the rash of publicity received by events surrounding the "Mohammed cartoon" and the associated riots, I had to put in my two cents.

The satirical cartoon is a not a new form of expression. People who have been lampooned in such cartoons have seldom rioted as a result. When Kevin Smith's film, Dogma, was released, there were virulent protests. The protestors were not destructively violent, however.

But things are getting worse. Now, because some cartoons lampooned a religion, there have been riots. Welcome to the 21st century. An age of enlightened reason and understanding, it is not.

Yes, yes, I know all about the idea that we shouldn't reprint these cartoons because they're disrespectful to our Muslim brothers and sisters. I don't like disrespect for its own sake.

But these cartoons are not mocking all Muslims. Just the violent, murderous ones. I also know that all depictions of Mohammed are forbidden. However, I think that when people are running around killing other people, criticism is in order, forbidden or not.

Author Sam Harris says "we are paying a terrible and unacknowledged price for sheltering religious ideas from criticism." It's true. Religion is a magic immunity from social rules.

One example is hate literature. Printing text that targets specific groups for violence is illegal. Yet, Harris points out that the Koran "is a manifesto of religious intolerance" that claims people who don't believe are wicked and horrible, and that "God the Merciful" will cast them into hell. The Old Testament's Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Exodus are worse. And doesn't the New Testament have Jesus slay all unbelievers?

As Monty Python points out, in reference to the Arthur legend, "If I went around claiming I was an emperor because some moistened bink had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away." If I claimed to have x-ray vision and bullet-proof flesh, people wouldn't take me seriously. And yet, the improbable tales of religion receive protection from criticism.

So, because of religion, people feel it's fair to trade a satirical cartoon for Molotov cocktails? That should cause alarm.

It doesn't make sense that in a democracy built on healthy criticism, people can simply say "religion" and suddenly be free from critique. That is a very slippery slope. Especially when the religious people themselves are adhering to such an intolerant belief system. And the claim that not all believers agree with the intolerant bits doesn't wash. That's just defending the irrationality of religion. And irrationality doesn't mix with safe government.

I enjoy freedom, mine and others. But the history of religion is not particularly replete with celebration of individual liberty. If others want to congregate on Sundays and pray, that's terrific. But I don't want to. If other women want to cover their entire bodies whenever they're in public, that's fine (although many who do that are forced to against their will). But my wife doesn't want to. If some people want to refuse to draw a particular religious leader, that's fine. But the rest of us should have the choice.

When I think of worst case scenarios involving religious people's treatment of non-believers, I think of witch-burning and the Spanish Inquisition. We need to learn from history.

We need to keep racism, homophobia, and sexism at bay. We need to protect people's religious freedom and people's freedom to be non-religious. We don't shelter the irrational ideas of racists. Nor should we shelter those of the religious. If they want to believe in the supernatural, that's fine, but the rest of us should be able to comment on that.

I'm not anti-religion. I'm anti-oppression. I'm in favour of equal treatment for all. We should be able to criticize any idea, religious or not.

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