CFI DC Executive Director Melody Hensley
and artist Dana Ellyn.
Secularist think tank the Center for Inquiry held an art exhibit to commemorate International Blasphemy Day this evening at its DC branch office, showcasing the art of painter Dana Ellyn to highlight its opposition to what is a highly troubling movement to control religious and antireligious speech throughout the world.
But upon entering the den of atheism that is CFI's Eastern Market office, is one accosted by snide, haughty hyper-intellectuals sneering at believers? Is one overwhelmed with horrific satanic images and grotesquely offensive and violent denigrations of the faithful?
Maybe that's what happens sometimes, but tonight, all I got were hugs. Friendly people wielding not smirks and disdain, but wine, cheese, and smiles. (And I also met a wonderful young lady by the name of Jamila Greenhouse, a local journalist, whose 16-month-old son was named "Carlin Hitchens Greenhouse. Don't you love it?)
That is for the most part beside the point, but I wanted it to be clear that we are not talking about some impersonal mockery-fest of religious belief. Rather, it was a quiet, friendly gathering of the like-minded and the curious, many of whom were trying to get a sense of what this Blasphemy Day thing was all about.
Which is an important question: why even have a Blasphemy Day? What's the point? Are we just trying to offend in order to get our jollies at the expense of defenseless religious folk? Maybe for some, but at the CFI this evening, that was not at all the purpose.
CFI DC's executive director Melody Hensley explained it thusly in her remarks, asserting:
Religious beliefs should be treated no different than other beliefs such as political, economic, or philosophical beliefs. . . . Blasphemy Day is a way to draw attention to our position that speech about religion should not be subject to special regulation.
From the famous riots over the Danish cartoon of Muhammad, to the threats against journalist Johann Hari for criticizing said riots, to maniacal overreactions to atheists' billboards and bus ads, religion is regularly protected by a social force field that makes utterly taboo the criticism, questioning, or mockery of religious belief. This has lead to things like the quasi-theocratic anti-blasphemy law of Ireland, the equally absurd resolutions of the UN and its Human Rights Council on the defamation of religions (as though religions were persons that were capable of being defamed) to even such parochial stupidity as laws disallowing offense against religion in a business's name.
But again, the point of this evening was not simply to thumb noses at religion and push the limits of offense. Instead, CFI DC put on display some of the works of Dana Ellyn, particular selections of hers that had a religious bent, whose satirical edge cut not just at religion, but at American manifestations of religion, and of her own experience with it. Said Ellyn, "I didn't paint any of these things to be blasphemous. I painted them because they're my take on things," also noting that religious satire is not the only subject she covers in her art, but that it is one among many "topics I visit," particularly among the political and the personal. (You can see some shoddy iPhone-taken pictures of Ellyn's art in this post's slideshow.)
But under many regimes around the world, and under rules many within our own country would like to see imposed, Ellyn's paintings of Jesus "doing his nails" or of President Eisenhower pushing a young girl "Under God" would be illegal, punishable, a crime. The point of Blasphemy Day is not to offend, but it is not to protect anyone from offense, either. Because of the right of freedom of speech, we are all at risk of being offended. But thanks to that same right, we all have the option to rebut, to refute, to defend, or to mock right back. Let's hope it will be so everywhere.
Related Secular Examiner Articles:
- Anti-blasphemy gone wild: Turkey disrupts NATO chief's appointment over Danish cartoon
- The stakes of UN anti-blasphemy resolutions become clear; US media still quiet
- US media mostly silent on UN anti-blasphemy resolution
- UN Human Rights Council passes resolution to 'combat defamation of religions'
- Third Commandment, LLC: Pennsylvania law prohibits blasphemy in company names
Comments