Happy Blasphemy Day

Today, September 30th, is the second International Blasphemy Rights Day. It was started by the Centre for Inquiry, and is held on the anniversary of the Danish Cartoon Controversy.

"The purpose of this event is to set a particular day as a day to support free speech, support the right to criticize and satirize religion, and to oppose any resolutions or laws, binding or otherwise, that discourage or inhibit free speech of any kind. The focus on 'blasphemy' is simply because it is such a salient issue, and one for which a lot of consciousness-raising is necessary."

The tag line "Ideas don't need rights, people do" is an apt one. Blasphemy is irreverence toward holy personages, religious artifacts, customs, and beliefs.

A very powerful tool of social commentary is satire: "vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon."

No ideas should be above criticism, whatever the form - if they're good enough, they'll survive.

Religion especially should not be above this, as, because of religious notions: raped girls are stoned to death for adultery; efforts to combat HIV are actively impeded and people are killed over drawing cartoons, for god's sake.

Some of the things out there are so sickening, that all you have left is a dark sense of humour to cope with it all.

There's a time and a place for serious discussion, and there's a time and a place for irreverence.



Go to Jesus and Mo for more comics like that one!

NSFW