Thursday 15 January 2015

Religion v Free Speech

Ever wondered why religionists from Anjem Choudary to Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam to the Pope to the UN representative for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) maintain there are “limits” to free speech protecting their own particular brand of obnoxiousness?

It’s because the tenets of religion are incompatible with the right to free speech.

Faith and force are corollaries,” wrote Ayn Rand. The claim to a non-sensory, non-rational means of knowledge is the rejection of reason. “When men reject reason, they have no means left for dealing with one another—except brute, physical force.”"Reason is the only objective means of communication and of understanding among men; when men deal with one another by means of reason, reality is their objective standard and frame of reference. But when men claim to possess supernatural means of knowledge, no persuasion, communication or understanding are possible. Why do we kill wild animals in the jungle? Because no other way of dealing with them is open to us. And that is the state to which [faith] reduces mankind—a state where, in case of disagreement, men have no recourse except to physical violence."
    Far from providing grounds for the existence or protection of rights, religion necessarily leads to the systematic denial and violation of rights. When faith is accepted as a means of knowledge, force inexorably follows.

Like Voltaire said:

2 comments:

Richard said...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

What if the United States Declaration of Independence is the word of God?

paul scott said...

Yes, even though we feel safe from religious terrorism, I still felt quite numb and sad that religious terrorists would go to a school to kill children and teachers in Pakistan. Then Sydney and then Charlie Hebdo, and all the rest of it.
I turned off the TV; and I got to thinking what could make me want to kill another person, and it could be if my family received violence,