FreeThought Solidarity Bulletin #3

 

FREETHOUGHT SOLIDARITY BULLETIN #3

 

April 3, 2006

 

This Bulletin, edited and produced by Fred Whitehead, Kansas City, Kansas, USA for the International Committee to Protect Freethinkers (ICPF) is FREE.  If you do not wish to continue to receive this, see instructions at the end of this message.

 

Items:

 

#1: The Muhammed Cartoon Controversy

 

#2: A New Manifesto

 

#3: Apostasy cases in Afghanistan and Elsewhere

 

#4: Update on Lafif Lakhdar Case

 

#5: Strategy and Tactics

 

#6: Quotation of the Day

 

#7: Resources

 

 

 

#1: The MUHAMMED CARTOON CONTROVERSY

 

The series of cartoons satirizing the Prophet of Islam appeared in a Danish newspaper, the Jyllands-Posten, last autumn.  However, they attracted little attention until an imam living in Denmark took them to an Islamic conference in Cairo, quietly adding two obscene cartoons which were NOT published in the Danish newspaper, one of them depicting Muhammed being sodomized by a dog (considered an unclean animal in Islam). 

 

Subsequently, riots broke out in many cities; the Danish embassy in Damascus was burned, and a boycott of Danish products was instituted.

 

Elsewhere, in Paris, and in various U.S. college newspapers, editors who published the cartoons lost their jobs.

 

However, the entire series (excluding the obscene ones), has been published in the latest issue of the ICPF journal Brave Minds, with a lengthy commentary by editor Marvin F. Zayed and related documents.  For details, see the “Resources” section below.

 

In terms of solidarity, one thing ordinary citizens can easily do is buy Danish products.  Denmark exports high quality dairy products of all kinds, especially cheese, but also furniture, etc.  For details, go to www.supportdenmark.com. 

 

#2: A NEW MANIFESTO

 

From the Internetavisen Jyllands-Posten, February 28, 2006

 

MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism

 

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.

We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.

The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.

Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man's domination of woman, the Islamists' domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.

We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.

We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.

We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.

12 signatures

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn Warraq

 

 

#3: APOSTASY CASES IN AFGHANISTAN AND ELSEWHERE

 

In March 2006, Abdul Rahman, an Afghan citizen who years ago had converted to Christianity while living in Germany, was charged in an Afghan court with the crime of Apostasy from Islam, a capital offense.  The case was soon reported in major newspapers world-wide.  U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to seek Rahman’s release.  Demonstrators in Afghanistan called for the death sentence. 

 

This is the result of “compromise” with Sharia law under the Afghan Constitution, which also endorses the right of all persons to choose their religion under the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.  When the Constitution was adopted a fEw years ago, the potential for sharp conflict was widely noted by liberal commentators, and now the conflict has erupted into public view.

 

As a result of protests, Rahman was released, in part because of allegations of mental instability, and he has now found refuge in Italy.  However, as Paul Marshall of the Center for Religious Freedom of Freedom House has pointed out, there are numerous cases of judicial punishment of “infidels” all around the Islamic nations.  The penalties vary from imprisonment to death.

 

We urge readers to send letters to President Hamid Karzai, Gulkhana Palace, ARG Kabul, Afghanistan, calling on his government to respect fundamental freedoms of thought and religion.

 

#4: UPDATE ON LAFIF LAKHDAR CASE

 

In our Bulletin #2 we reported on the case of this Tunisian educator now living in exile in France, who has been threatened by an Islamic leader in Britain.  As of this date, he is still safe, but for an update on his situation, including a review of his intellectual life and contributions over many decades, go to www.metransparent.net, and see “The roots of jihad” by Ehud Ein-Gil. 

 

#5: STRATEGY AND TACTICS

 

Generally our messages will deal with immediate tactical matters, especially the defense of Freethinkers, our explicit purpose and reason for existence.  We will continue to provide information on specific cases, urge letters to government officials, and the like.  However, the persistence of chaotic conditions at the level of basic social functioning on what seems to be a world-wide basis, has led me to propose a broader approach as well, one that is difficult, and by its nature long-term.

 

At the very moment when our consciousness is becoming international, or “global” as the current word has it, we are facing movements of religious violence and extremism, often based on territorial considerations.  And while “Islamism” represents a real threat, simple honesty should lead us to acknowledge that there are plenty of Christian and other fanatics as work as well.  There are Generals at high positions in the U.S. military who believe that the Apocalypse is near and should be hastened along.  Furthermore, while the tragedy of September 11, 2001 is imprinted on our minds forever, how many, just to speak of the people of the United States, are much concerned, really, about the appalling record of abuse and torture of Muslims in our secret jails?  Certainly, the kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq, etc. are terrible, but do we care about our own crimes?

 

What, therefore, seems needed is an extensive, activist effort to study, learn, and apply the fundamental rights of free expression and thought, including speech and press, guaranteed by the U. N. Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in most (though not all) countries of the world, via the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  (See “Resources” below for source of relevant texts.)  This should not be limited to the usual liberal, humanist and Freethought circles, but should include leaders and rank-and-file people from all religions and systems of belief. 

 

Discussions should be carried out in communities, schools, colleges and universities, and labor unions.  In women’s groups, and all the myriad institutions of civil society.  Unless we can deepen people’s understanding of these principles, our societies are going to continue to face the possibility if not the inevitability of complete breakdown.  More positively, we need to create networks of interaction that can sustain a decent future for us all.

 

It will require patience, and also real listening to others.  Many Muslims feel deeply about any defamation of their Prophet; we cannot just ignore such feelings.  In Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, there will be on April 8, a meeting called “A Clash of Civilizations: The Muslim Perspective.”  I plan to attend, and listen.  From this meeting I hope to develop some kind of connection and future opportunity for dialog with Muslims in this metropolitan area.

 

We would welcome reports of similar efforts, events and initiatives from our readers, for future publication in this Bulletin.

 

 

#6: QUOTATION OF THE DAY

 

“All power is but an unabated nuisance, a barbarous assumption, an aggravated injustice, that is not directed to the common good: all grandeur that has not something corresponding to it in personal merit and heroic acts, is a deliberate burlesque, and an insult on common sense and human nature.  That which is true, the understanding ratifies: that which is good, the heart owns; all other claims are spurious, vitiated, mischievous, false—fit only for those who are sunk below contempt, or raised above opinion.  We hold in scorn all right-lined pretensions but those of rectitude.  If there is offense in this, we are ready to abide by it.  If there is shame, we take it upon ourselves: and we hope and hold that the time will come, when all other idols but those which represent pure truth and real good, will be looked upon with the same feelings of pity and wonder that we now look back to the images of Thor and Woden!”—from “On the Spirit of Monarchy” by William Hazlitt (1778-1830)

 

 

#7: RESOURCES

 

Issue #10/11 of Brave Minds, the chronicle of the International Committee to Protect Freethinkers (ICPF) has now been published.  A substantial journal of 116 pages, it includes the now famous series of Muhammed cartoons, with lengthy commentary by editor Marvin F. Zayed, with additional documents from Islamic authorities, humanist and press freedom organizations, and others.  Also a Call for a Mohammed Seminar, similar to the Jesus Seminar; an essay by Fred Whitehead, “Why We Need Offensive Art and Satirical Literature”; a report on Ireland and Religion by Ann James; an intellectual biography of Dr. Ahmed Sharif by Nehal Karim; a review of the recently published book by Robert Spencer, entitled The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades, etc.  There is now a section of the journal in Arabic as well.  For details on the cost of the issue and of subscriptions, e-mail diahumanism-institute@sympatico.ca. 

 

Essential documents on civil and human rights are available in a publication entitled How to Use “New” Civil Rights Laws after 9/11,” edited by Ann Fagan Ginger of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, Berkeley, California.  This includes the complete texts of the Declaration of Independence, the U.N. Charter, the Nuremberg Principles, The Genocide Convention, and particularly relevant, the International Convention on Civil & Political Rights.  A noted attorney and activist, Ginger emphasizes the legal application of all these documents, not only for U.S. law, but for all countries of the world which have endorsed them.  This is a 324 page book, a reference we need to have readily at hand in our daily work!  For details go to www.mcli.org.

 

The Bank of Wisdom has issued two new CDs of classic Freethought texts now available on easy to use digitalized formats.  These are An Introduction to Reality, and Evolution A Fact.  For more go to www.bank-of-wisdom.com.

 

Imaginative literature is a significant part of our cause.  For several years, Robert Edwards published a print magazine of poetry called Pemmican.  Now he is continuing it as a website, with the addition of reviews, commentaries, as well as poetry.  For stimulating reading, go to www.pemmicanpress.com.

 

One of the longest-running magazines in America is called The Human Quest.  Founded as The Churchman in 1804, it is “an independent journal of religious humanism.”  For many years, it was chaired by Professor John Swomley, who has recently become Chair Emeritus.  Now, we learn from the latest issue, there is to be a slight shift in emphasis for its content, to focus on “congregationally based community organizing.”    The current issue features a provocative essay by Micahel Lerner, editor of the progressive Jewish journal Tikkun, entitled “Why America needs a spiritual Left.”  For more information, go to www.thehumanquest.org.

 

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