Speak Out For Yourself

There have been angry protests against the publishing of a caricature of Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper (and later in French, German and Spanish news papers). These protests show what I knew for years, some folks are too sensitive. But this brings back the age old question. What is more important - free speech or religious beliefs?

I am myself a big fan of free speech. Also being an atheist makes my choices easy, since I am not haunted by the religious dogmas which plague those who are protesting.

Is religion the source of all evil? No of course not. But I often wonder what the world would be like without religion. Think of it, without religion there would be no 9/11, no London bombings, no partition of India, no Kashmir dispute, no Holocaust, no Israel/Palestine conflict, no violence in Northern Ireland.

Or in John Lennon's immortal words,

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today.
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace.

Coming back to the cartoon, here is what I have to say to those who are taking offence. It was just that, a cartoon published in a nation that puts freedom of speech higher than religion. They have a right to do that. Live with it.

Muhammad was not the only one who was caricatured in the cartoon. There were other gods too there was a Christian god and a Jewish god. Both of these religions too consider idol worship blasphemous. I don't see them protesting. A news paper in France recently published a cartoon of Jesus Christ showing him naked with just a condom on. Can you imagine anything like that happening in the Middle East or India or even the United States?

These societies are built on the very foundation of free speech and expression. Do not compare them to societies where women are not allowed to show their face in public or where a man's eyes are gorged out as punishment. Please try to appreciate the difference.

Religion did not create man, man created religion. Just step out of your religious boundaries, reach out and see the world just as a human being. You will learn to value the things in life that mean much more than any religion or a prophet or a god. Things like freedom of speech, expression. The very things that made possible for you and me to express our opinions. My friend, don't let religious doctrines shape your life. For, you were not born with a religion and certainly you will not die with one.

As for the recurring question that does freedom of expression entail one to offend someone else?

This is what Salman Rushdie had to say

"What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist."