The Right to Be Rude
Why All Religions and Secular Philosophies Must Tolerate Criticism
BY
For a long time, I had just assumed that these free-speech ground rules were fairly obvious. I could understand why people living in nations where there is no tradition of (or legal protection for) free speech might not honor them. But in the wake of the horrific attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris by Muslim extremists, I have been surprised at the number of people—even on our own shores—who seem to believe that sharp satire or mean-spirited speech is somehow not worth protecting.
“What about hate speech?” some people ask. Legally, prohibitions on even unpleasant speech simply can’t survive court scrutiny in the United States—nor should they. Certainly hate speech that is deemed to be inciting imminent, unlawful, dangerous action is illegal and not protected, but “hate speech” is a notoriously slippery concept. I have no doubt that some Christians consider billboards put up by the American Humanist Association and UnitedCor (not to mention the more aggressive ones posted by other nontheistic groups) to be forms of hate speech. The concept is simply too nebulous to be awarded broad legal status.
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Pope Francis and Ahmet Davutoglu, the prime minister of Turkey, both said recently that people don’t have the right to insult religion. (In Davutoglu’s case, he was speaking specifically of Islam.) They are wrong, and their comments are an indication that some people in powerful places still just don’t get it.
Worse yet are people like William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. Donohue’s response to the bloody assault on Charlie Hebdo was to assert that they pretty much had it coming because their criticism of Islam and the Catholic Church was over the top.
The right to criticize—and yes, mock—the beliefs of others is a fundamental human right. It may not be recognized by all nations, but that doesn’t make it any less important. After all, no one ever changes his or her mind about religion, politics, or any other deeply held belief unless a seed of doubt is first planted. That seed may take the form of a thoughtful critique—but it could just as easily be harsh criticism, parody or satire.
It isn’t always easy to defend all forms of free speech, especially when the speech is unpleasant or the approach isn’t one we favor. But it’s vital. Our challenge now is to reaffirm that principle to all Americans even as we work to bring an understanding of free speech and the right to question religious claims to nations still saddled with dangerous blasphemy laws.
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