Recent
escalations in the crisis spawned by the Danish Jyllands-Posten’s
publication of a series of cartoons ridiculing Prophet Muhammad
appear, on the surface, to be a test of Europe’s commitment to
free speech. Yet the issue is substantially more complex.
All
religions should be protected from vilification and ridicule.
Restriction on freedom of expression certainly places us on a
dangerously slippery slope, but in the long run, a sense of social
responsibility governing press freedoms seems bound to promote a
healthier atmosphere of respect and mutual toleration, of which the
world is greatly in need.
The
more chaotic alternative, sure to appeal to some die-hard
libertarians, is to declare open season on all religious groups and
beliefs. And this is where the trouble arises.
The
complication stems from the conviction held by many Muslims, that
“press freedom” of the Danish variety would not be
tolerated—indeed, would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law—if Judaism were made the target of such slurs, in a Europe
where legitimate, if exaggerated, fears of anti-Semitism have long
acted as a sort of moral bludgeon, shaping legislation and molding
public norms and taboos.
A
sense of social responsibility governing press freedoms
promotes a healthier atmosphere of respect and mutual
toleration. |
|
This
conviction, borne out again and again by repeated controversies in
Western media circles, leaves Muslims with the unsettling impression
that incitement to hatred is tolerable only when Muslims are
victimized. True, Christianity often bears more than its fair share
of mockery in an increasingly secularized Europe. And European free
speech laws are largely the product of an Enlightenment-era outlook
on the role and status of religion in society. But while it is
unreasonable to expect Europeans to overlook the cultural
experiences of several centuries, it is equally unreasonable to
expect one billion Muslims to take it for granted that free speech
affords others a right to ridicule their religion, while staunchly
protecting another religion from the same treatment.
The
more cynical would ask if it will take a continent-wide genocide of
Muslims to grant them the same legal protections afforded others.
Indeed, in this post-September 11 world, it is Muslims facing
surveillance, profiling, harassment, detention, extraordinary
rendition, and the like.
