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Pleaseblock.us is a forum sponsored by the Council for Secular Humanism in conjunction with its supporting organization The Center for Inquiry, about religious criticism and a monitor of global efforts to censor free thought and expression about religion. Dear censors around the world: Are you intolerant of religious criticism and blasphemy? Prove it: please block us!
The Center for Inquiry Launches Campaign for Free Expression
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is firmly committed to protecting the right of individuals to express their viewpoints, opinions, and beliefs. Preserving the right to uncensored expression is important not only because it is indispensable for an objective examination of truth claims—it is no accident that dictatorships uniformly suppress speech—but also because it has intrinsic value. Human dignity requires the freedom to express oneself as an individual.
Therefore, CFI has been troubled and dismayed by efforts in recent years to limit freedom of expression, in particular speech deemed critical of religion. Various United Nations bodies, including the UN’s Human Rights Council, have adopted resolutions condemning so-called “defamation” of religion. Although these resolutions are not as of now legally binding on member states, we anticipate efforts will be made to have the resolutions acquire the force of international law. Moreover, these resolutions already lend credibility to efforts to suppress dissent and criticism, especially in Islamic countries.
But it is not just the Islamic world that is suppressing religious criticism. Western European countries have been debating whether measures should be adopted to prevent religiously offensive statements. In fact, Ireland seems poised to enact a new blasphemy law that would prohibit publication of material “insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion.” Such as the assertion that the doctrine of the Trinity is a logical absurdity? Or the content of a recent issue of Free Inquiry?
Of course, religious institutions are not the only ones that seek to render themselves immune from criticism. Many governments, including nominally democratic governments such as Russia, place severe restrictions on free expression, for example by legally prohibiting insults “of a representative of authority.” Then there are the unofficial means of suppressing free speech, such as the murder of journalists and dissenters. Of course, authoritarian governments frequently curtail expression and access to information. For example, China has recently announced plans to require all personal computers to have web filters that would block access to government-disfavored sites.
CFI believes we must increase public awareness of these threats to freedom of expression, discuss and develop plans to prevent curtailment of free expression, and demonstrate that people care about their rights to free expression and are eager to exercise them. To that end, CFI plans a campaign for the balance of 2009 that will include these elements among others: a contest open to all students currently enrolled in accredited colleges and universities in which students will submit essays on the value of free expression, with the winner receiving an award of $2,000; a cartoon contest, judged by professional cartoonists, in which the theme will be the doctrines of humanity’s various religions (we aim to be as ecumenical as possible); sponsorship of International Blasphemy Day, September 30, 2009, in which persons around the world will demonstrate that they believe in the right to uninhibited expression of their views of religion; the launching of a new web site, http://www.pleaseblock.us which will be maintained and updated by CFI’s affiliate, the Council for Secular Humanism, and, as content is added, will feature reports on recent censorship attempts and controversies as well as original material that would be suppressed under the laws of some countries; special events with prominent guest speakers; web pages devoted to the discussion of contemporary champions of free expression; a petition drive aimed at preventing suppression of speech critical of religion; and much more. Details of all these initiatives will be forthcoming in the near future.
In the meantime, please commit to joining us in making 2009 the year in which we make it clear to all governments, religions, and other institutions that our voices will be heard—on whatever subject we choose. No topic off limits! No more taboos!
Ideas don’t need rights—people do. Protect dissent.