Taking Offence

Recently there has been a peculiarly pernicious development in public discourse, the capacity to receive offence, particularly offence respecting religious beliefs. During a debate on the cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed a spokesman, inevitably of course self appointed, for the Muslim community declared that free speech did not include the right to inflict insult! This remark, astonishingly, went unchallenged. Of course divorced from its capacity to wound strongly held beliefs the concept of freedom of speech is rendered meaningless. More alarmingly an added dimension to the capacity to receive offence is the growing tendency to legitimise violence as a response to real or imagined offence. In the early 21st century we are living in the age of the Fatwa.
I fear that we may have already lost more ground in this respect than we realise; self censorship already a significant feature of the press and broadcasting media. Moreover what London theatre would now stage a satire on the absurdities of Islam? (Interestingly a similiar play on the theme of the absurdities of Christianity or even Judaism would I suspect still be possible). Yet if we concede this ground now we loose the one effective weapon against the totalitarian mindset that is religious fundamentalism, against the absurd claims of ‘faith,’ that is ridicule.

For myself I have no problem with what others choose to believe, no matter how ridiculous in my own eyes, for after all one must concede,

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Nor do I have any objection, nor right to any objection about what others choose to wear. If women choose to wear hoods over their heads with two slits cut for eyes, it is none of my business.
Do not however presume to demand that I ‘respect,’ what ever that might mean, what you choose to believe or what apparel you choose to wear. Especially do not presume to threaten me for any real or imagined lack of ‘respect’ with violence. I make no such demands for my own belief systems. Should you however insist on pressing your demands with violence then here I feel there is an appropriate role for law.

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