Freedom of Religion AND Speech

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14409224/

I am not trying to offend anyone here. The fact that I need to make such a disclaimer before a perfectly rational argument shows just how irrational is the opposition.

I believe in freedom of religion. I also believe in freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and a host of other freedoms too numerous to list in this forum. I am a Libertarian, after all, so I believe in the freedom of everything excepting the infliction of deliberate and unjustified physical harm to another person, theft of another person's property, and actions all actions designed to coerce/restrict another's liberty. Did you ever wonder why religion, speech, petition, the press, and assembly were all thrown together into the first amendment? It's because they are manifestations of the same principle: liberty, without which, we are slaves.

That's why I'm so bothered by this whole depicting an image of Mohammad controversy.

Obviously, many (perhaps most--it hasn't been quantified) Muslims were offended when a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published satirical cartoons depicting Mohammad, but I'm bothered by the tone of this reaction--violent at times, nonetheless menacing at others. I'm also disturbed by the fact that too few people have stood up in defense of Jyllandis-Posten.

That's what I'm about to do (*gasp*).

First, let me state that I believe the drawings were insensitive--I'll even grant that they were insulting. They were certainly interpreted this way.

This, however, is all that I am prepared to grant to the plaintiffs in this case.

I stated before that I believe in freedom of religion. I am a Christian, and no one has the right to harm me in any way because of this. Jews have the right to their faith without living in fear of persecution, as do Muslims, Buddhists, Voodooists, Atheists, Agnostics, Hindus, etc.

Just because I believe in freedom of religion, I have no obligation to believe that all religions are equal. As a Christian, I have to believe that other religions are mistaken. Some, in my view, can be closer to correct: e.g. Jews aren't too far off. But others, I have to believe--otherwise I don't really believe that Christianity is correct--are dead wrong.

Atheists are wrong. There is a God. They're more incorrect than polytheists. Polytheists are wrong, but at least they recognize divinity. As a Christian, I believe that Jews error in rejecting Christ as the Son of God. However, Jews are at least closer to correct than polytheists, for Jews, like Christians, are monotheistic. The fact that Christianity sprang forth from Jewish roots also means that I believe that Jews are more correct than Muslims.

Muslims actually share quite a bit with Jews and Christians (starting with monotheism), but as a Christian, I believe that the Jewish prophets (e.g. Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, etc.) were actually prophets. Muslims, however, choose to follow Mohammed as their chief prophet. I do not believe that Mohammed was one of God's prophets. If I did, I'd be a Muslim. Muslims at least admit that Jesus was a prophet, but they deny that he was the Son of God. Since Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, this troubles me. If he wasn't the Son of God, then he was either crazy (for believing that he was) or a liar (for saying that he was but knowing that he wasn't). Perhaps a Muslim friend or an anonymous reader would be so kind as to explain this one for me.

Let's continue. The same set of scenarios that I established for Jesus can be applied to Mohammed. Either Mohammed was telling the truth, or he was crazy, or he was a liar. Since I do not believe that Mohammed was a prophet, I obviously believe that Mohammed was either insane or a liar. Think about it. You might be too "polite" to put it in this way--for fear of offending someone else--but the logic is solid.

Similarly, if you do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, then you must believe that he was either a liar or a lunatic. You don't stand on good ground if you take one of those cut-and-paste approaches to Jesus: "He said a lot of wonderful things, but I don't believe that he was the Son of God." Nobody is so kind to David Koresh--either a liar or a lunatic--or Jim Jones--a liar or a lunatic--or the Heaven's Gate people--lunatics. Either Jesus is the Son of God, or he was full of B.S. or had no real idea what he was talking about.

So it's clear. I think that Mohammad was either a liar or a lunatic. Nonetheless, hundreds of millions of people are devoted to Islam, and to him he is God's most important prophet. Since they follow a man who, I have concluded, was either a liar or a lunatic, I must believe that they are mistaken at best or lunatics themselves at worse (I opt for mistaken).

I have the right to tell Muslims that they are wrong. That Mohammad was not a prophet, and that Jesus is the Son of God. I have the right to suggest strongly that they shelve their Korans and locate a copy of the New Testament (Matthew 4:17--"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand"!). I also have the right to draw Mohammad in any setting, sculpt him however I wish, carve his image out of wood with a chainsaw, whatever. What I cannot do is force Muslims or any other non-Christians into becoming Christians. I cannot even force them to respect Christianity. Similarly, I cannot be coerced into believing or respecting the belief that Mohammad was a prophet. If I'm wrong, the consequences that await in the afterlife will be severe enough.

All people have the freedoms of speech, thought, and expression. More often than not, people use these freedoms to make asses of themselves. That's when we use our freedom of speech to say, "You're an ass!"

I do not believe that people, having these rights, should simply go about saying offensive things. However, if they wish to be friendless and jobless, then let them go ahead. What's wrong with good old-fashioned ostracism?

The Egyptian Grand Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi demands that the editor of Jyllands-Posten be thrown in jail and that the newspaper itself be forced out of circulation. But whatever cartoons Jyllands-Posten decides to print, Muslims will only see them and be thus offended if they read that particular newspaper. If that newspaper is offensive, then don't read it.

Forcing the world to respect Mohammad is very much a step in the direction of forcing the world to become Muslims. Why should people be forced to respect a man whom they regard as either a liar or a lunatic?

The only reason for respecting Mohammad and not believing in his being a prophet is the desire to be a good neighbor. I don't see any gains by offending Muslims, so I don't try to do so. However, if I have done so in the process of this discourse, then I am not sorry. I will never apologize for believing what I believe unless I am otherwise convinced of the contrary.

People who saw the cartoons in Jyllands-Posten and found the cartoons offensive have a few options. They can dismiss the cartoons as in poor taste but continue to read the newspaper. They can also decline to patronize the newspaper anymore. They can also encourage others to boycott the newspaper. What they cannot rightfully do is demand a violent solution.

Polite people won't intentionally try to piss other people off (I never said that I was polite). Impolite people might. That's why we call them jerks (among other things), and why we don't invite them over for dinner. If I'm correct, the argument against creating images of Mohammed is to avoid creating idols--to be thus worshipped. The worship of a graven image is called idolatry, and idolatry is wrong. Should some people make an image of Mohammed, say what you want about what jerks they are, but don't assume the power to punish them. That's worse than idolatry. That's assuming God's role for yourself.

Perhaps Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the creators of South Park) said it best in their two-episode critique of the issue.

Before I am dismissed as being insensitive, remember that I am a Christian. This means that I have heard, read, and seen countless acts of disrespect towards my faith. Throughout it all, however, I dared not suggest that violence be waged against the antagonists.

It doesn't feel right to end here. My gut tells me that there's more to say. However, the last time I listened to my gut, I ended up with a bad case of heartburn.