A liberal atheist demands respect

Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar / TNN / Feb 12, 2006, 00:05 IST

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Amazingly, traditional guardians of civil liberties have remained muted or silent. This is not just spineless, it is an insult to my religion of liberal atheism.

I belong to the fraternity of liberal atheists. We believe in liberty, equality and fraternity. We respect all religions and most religious people, many of whom share our values.
We do not believe in God. But we have strong beliefs and values, no less than formal religions. And so, we make bold to claim that liberal atheism is a religion, no less than others, and as worthy of respect as any other religion.
This has a direct bearing on violent demonstrations by Islamic fundamentalists against the publication of Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb-shaped turban.

Danish embassies, diplomats and buildings have been attacked in Beirut and Damascus. Even Indonesia, long cited as an example of soft Islam, has cancelled a badminton match with Denmark. Islamic demonstrations have taken place across the globe, including in India.

I congratulate the Danish government for standing firm, insisting that its media have freedom, and refusing to apologise. Somebody has to stand up for basic freedom.
The protesters reject the sanctity of free speech. Amazingly, traditional guardians of civil liberties have remained muted or silent: they seem to think that a hard line will simply spark more violence. This is not just spineless, it is an insult to my religion of liberal atheism.

The demonstrators and their apologists have offered several reasons for their actions. First, freedom of expression is not a licence to insult a religion.
Second, such cartoons demonise Islam. Third, Christians can make fun of their own religion if they want, but not of ours. And fourth, this is part of a Western campaign portraying Muslims as terrorists.
Let's examine these one by one. Freedom of expression can't be a licence to insult a religious community. The fact is that every religion is an insult to somebody.
The Hindu scriptures and dharma shastras unquestionably insult lower castes, women, and foreigners (who are called mlechhas, on par with untouchables).
The Bible is an insult to Jews, who from the start were appalled by Christ's claim to be a Messiah. Mohammed's claim to be a prophet is similarly insulting to Christians.
Hindus are called heathen and kaffirs respectively by Christians and Muslims, and both are insulting terms. Can the answer be for people from all religions and castes to attack and maim one another?
Liberal atheists like me hold freedom of expression to be sacred, and tolerance of opposing views to be a fundamental duty. Our religion says that we can and do insult one another all the time in various ways. You can and should object when you feel insulted, I certainly do so.
But the duty of tolerance means you cannot use violence or revenge as a means of protests: you should find other ways. When Islamic radicals seek to curtail my freedom of expression, they are insulting my religion.
Does this entitle me to assault Islamist radicals and their institutions? If they sneer dismissively at liberal atheism, with what face can they object at others sneering at them?
Such cartoons of the Prophet demonise Islam. Absolutely not. A cartoon is an essential part of free speech, not a vehicle for insults. Cartoons express views in pithy ways that words cannot. In India we have thousands of cartoons depicting Hindu gods (for example, by portraying Advani as Ram).
These are legitimate political commentary and satire. If Islamic radicals do not want to use cartoons of religious figures, they are entitled to their view. But they cannot impose their views on non-believers. By doing so, they are demonising us.
Christians can make fun of their own religion if they want, but not of ours. I am not a Christian, and free speech is not about Christianity. Indeed, the French Revolution (which brought in the concept of free speech) was expressly aimed at curbing the power of the Church, which at the time could burn all dissenters at the stake.
My religion, liberal atheism, regards as sacred the right to make fun of anybody and everybody, including religious figures. We assert the right of Islam or any other religion to make fun of us, and us of them. It has nothing to do with Christianity.
This is part of a Western campaign against Islam, portraying it as terrorist. I am not from the West, and liberal atheists are not all Westerners. We reject the division of the world into West and East, into pro- and anti-Islam.
We reject the attempt of Islamic fundamentalists to hijack freedom of speech and convert it into a political issue between Muslims and the West.
Many liberal atheists have condemned the US for arrogantly setting civilisational standards and bombing those it regards as barbaric. But we are no less critical of Islamists denying us the right of free speech.