September 30th has been declared International Blasphemy Day. I’m sure many people will find this terribly offensive, and possibly a sign of the impending Rapture. However, this is meant to be a reminder of our right to free speech, which affects all of us, whatever your religious beliefs. According to the website:
Why September 30? The last day in September is the anniversary of the original publication of Danish cartoons in 2005 depicting the prophet Muhammad’s face. Any visual depiction of Muhammad is considered a grave offence under Islamic law.
The fury which arose within the Islamic community following this publication led to massive riots, attacks on foreign embassies and deaths.
The newspapers which chose to publish these cartoons were in many cases blamed for the outpouring of violence which followed. This unfortunate yet inevitable sequence of events clearly demonstrated a dangerous misconception that had piggy-backed into the 21st century on the shoulders of ignorance, fear and apathy, that all religious beliefs and ideas deserve respect and are beyond criticism or satire.
International Blasphemy Day is a movement, not just a day, to remind the world that religion should never again be beyond open and honest discussion or reproach. Our future depends on it.
But don’t get too cocky, Christians. You guys aren’t exactly big on free speech yourselves.
Thousands of Muslims gathered Friday on Capitol Hill for a day of prayer that organizers said was intended to inspire American Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
…
Organizers had hoped that 50,000 people would show up for the Friday afternoon prayer session, which took place at the foot of the U.S. Capitol.
There were also anti-Muslim protesters near the event.
*sigh* Of course there were. Malik, one of the prayer day organizers, says that he has gotten “really nasty e-mails”. Check out what one Christian had to say about the event.
“It is important for Christians to understand that Friday’s Muslim prayer initiative is part of a well-defined strategy to Islamize American society and replace the Bible with the Koran, the cross with the Islamic crescent and the church bells with the Athan [the Muslim call to prayer],” the Rev. Canon Julian Dobbs, leader of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America’s Church and Islam Project, said in a written statement. “The time has come for the American public to call Islam to account,” he said.
Now, I don’t agree with the teachings of Islam any more than I do with Christianity. I think they are both equally silly. I certainly don’t believe in the power of prayer. But one thing I do believe in is the right you have to pray. These people were there legally and peacefully, and if it makes them feel better to pray for America, then good for them. If you try to silence everyone you don’t agree with, eventually someone else will try to silence YOU. Freedom of (and, in our case, from) religion is a two way street.
So let’s use Blasphemy Day to remind everyone that nothing is above criticism. Let’s use the rights we have been given. What do you guys think? What are some good ways to celebrate Blasphemy Day without being to offensive? Remember, we want to spark discussion, not seriously hurt peoples’ feelings.
Perhaps we should advertise the Center for Inquiry’s “Blasphemy Contest.”
http://www.centerforinquiry.net/news/cfi_blasphemy_contest/
I was at CFI when they announced the project. I haven’t publicized the Blasphemy Contest because I’m conflicted about it, but some SHAFTers may want to participate.
Well, as far as Blasphemy Day goes, we have it pretty easy here in Utah. Considering our mere existence is considered Blasphemous, I figure we just have to get ourselves noticed a bit. Here are a few ways I thought of to celebrate:
1) Wear your atheist slogan shirts (I would guess that at least half of us SHAFTers have one in the back of our closets).
2) Take an opportunity to read atheist literature in a public venue. The Quad, Hub, Quadside Cafe, benches around campus, benches in front of (but not belonging to) religious buildings (my favorite are the ones on the west side of the TSC). This could also lead to conversations about our reading with passerby who notice it.
3) Take a moment to point and have a good laugh each time you pass by a religious building.
4)This one might not be possible without a little prep time and arrangement, but get permission (negative publicity for not following protocol is not desirable) to set up a blasphemy table around the area where the shouting preachers always hang out. Inform people of Blasphemy Day and the benefits of free thought (in a less annoying way than the preacher). This is even better if the preachers happen to still be there!
This last one is a bit more aggressive, but would definitely be blasphemous to most:
5) Have a LEGAL campfire (maybe up Logan canyon, if that is allowed with fire regulations and seasonal concerns – open flame is NOT allowed on campus, and I doubt the police will take free speech as a valid excuse) and use religious papers to fuel it. I believe the preacher table offering free literature would not be a bad source, and it would remove such texts from harming the minds of others. Though, you might run into the problem of having the thin pages go up all at once and then leave nothing to burn.
Those are what just came to mind for me (I admit they get a bit more “inventive” near the end), feel free to improve upon them, or let me know if any go too far.
A book burning? Really? Isn’t book burning one of the great offenses against free thought?
If SHAFT so much as puts an open flame in the general area of a religious text tomorrow, I will withdraw any association I have with the group.
And to be sure, SHAFT–at least as a group–will be doing no such thing.
I withdraw that suggestion then. I was just doing a brainstorming, and it seems that I did get far too inventive. I had a feeling that it was not a very acceptable activity (though certainly in the category of Blasphemy). My apologies for any negative reflection my comment has had on SHAFT. I will be a bit more critical of my own brainstorming from now on.
Thanks for your suggestions though, Cody. I did appreciate numbers 1 and 4.
By the way: Mr. Deity has its own website now (mrdeity.com), and season three is up. You might want to provide a link to it.
Thanks, Huenemann. I really only enjoyed the first season. The third season has thus far been lackluster. But I’ll add it to our blogroll–I know others enjoy it.
I went to the Darwin lecture tonight. I believe the speaker was from Spain, and although I personally had to focus hard to understand him, I found the lecture insightful. It was very scientific up until the end when he had a slide that stated people supporting Intelligent Design are implying that “God is inept” and “God is a pervert”.
Also, I haven’t watched this yet, but Richard Dawkins is on the Colbert Report on September 30th.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/99337/the-colbert-report-wed-sep-30-2009#s-p1-so-i0
And for those of you who went to the big bang discussion, the most recent Family Guy episode (which can also be found on hulu) is all about the multiverse.
And here are a few other family guy clips on the Big Bang.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heGcvWu_JMs&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyL1m0I3IN4
There are lots of other clips that we could have shown on blasphemy day, but I don’t want to spam Family Guy too much.
Being that I’m the Religious Hessian (romantic elitist metalhead) arm of the SHAFT group, I would suggest that if you’re going to celebrate Blasphemy Day to its fullest real potential outside of atheist family guy clips you should start and end with a playing of Havohej’s joyful little a cappella song called Dethrone the Son of God, from their legendary, classic album of the same name.
Just to be fair to Family guy, the clip of a funeral procession where the priest acts like a bushman Shaman is always a side splitter.
I think Jon already has the Hessian part of the group down.