Democracy cannot exist without the right to free speech.
Free speech should be robustly defended as a fundamental freedom.
The National Secular Society has defended free speech from religious threats since our founding. We played an instrumental role in abolishing "blasphemy" laws in Britain, but serious concerns remain. Blasphemy laws still exist in Northern Ireland. And throughout the UK, religious fundamentalists seek to impose their blasphemy taboos on others through violence and intimidation.
There are also increasing attempts to categorise offending religious sensibilities as 'hate speech', making criticism, mockery or perceived 'insult' of religion a criminal act akin to racial hatred or inciting violence – in other words, a 'blasphemy law by the back door'.
Without free speech no search for truth is possible; without free speech no discovery of truth is useful; without free speech progress is checked… Better a thousand fold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech.
We are further concerned by a developing 'culture of offence' in which any speech or action deemed likely to offend religious sensibilities is considered taboo. Enforced by a toxic mix of terrorism and religious deference, this is chilling free speech through self-censorship.
We also campaign against blasphemy laws around the world, where they continue to be used to target religious and political minorities. These are sometimes described by UK politicians as 'misuse' of blasphemy laws, but we contend there are never any legitimate uses for blasphemy laws.
Being offended from time to time is the price we all pay for living in a free society. Rather than trying to silence those we disagree with, we believe the answer to speech we don't like is more speech – better speech.
We therefore campaign to protect and preserve freedom of expression, including offensive, critical and shocking speech.
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Latest updates
European Humanist Federation: "Greece must abolish blasphemy laws"
Posted: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:11
The European Humanist Federation (EHF) and its Greek member the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) have protested to the Greek Justice Minister about the arrest of three actors on charges of blasphemy.
The actors were taking part in a production of Terence McNally's 1997 play Corpus Christi, which portrays Jesus and his disciples as homosexuals living in Corpus Christi, Texas. EHF and GHM have written to the Greek Justice Minister asking that not only that charges against the three actors be dropped but that the blasphemy law should be repealed.
In a joint statement, Pierre Galand, President of the European Humanist Federation, and Panayote Dimitras, Spokesperson for Greek Helsinki Monitor, said:
"With the secularisation of Europe, the offence of blasphemy tends to disappear from national criminal laws. While some countries have abolished it, others still have it in their domestic law but do not prosecute (e.g. Austria, Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands). In Greece, Ireland or Poland, blasphemy laws allowing fines and imprisonment may lead to prosecution or have a deterrent effect on journalists, academics, artists and other citizens which may amount to self-censorship.
Freedom of expression is protected by all major international human rights instruments. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has stressed on numerous occasions that freedom of expression constitutes "one of the essential foundations of [a democratic] society", and that "it is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population".
The EHF strongly defends freedom of expression, which includes the right to be critical about religions in discussions or artistic expressions. There is no fundamental right not to be offended in one's religious feelings, churches and religious groups should accept criticism, just as every group in society.
In a 2008 Report on the relationship between freedom of expression and freedom of religion, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters, better known as the Venice Commission) recommended that "the offence of blasphemy should be abolished (which is already the case in most European States) and should not be reintroduced".
Similarly, in a joint statement issued during the Durban Review Conference in Geneva in 2009, three United Nations Special Rapporteurs – respectively on freedom of religion or belief, on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance – underlined the difficulties of providing an objective definition of the term "defamation of religions" which make the whole concept "open to abuse". The pressure to ban these blasphemy laws has been increasing since 2008. After several years of resolutions on the defamation of religions, the United Nations finally adopted in March 2011 a new resolution on Combating Religious Intolerance which does not refer to defamation of religions anymore but advocates tolerance and education.
Defending freedom of expression does not mean that it is wise or legal for citizens to say everything they like in the public space. This freedom is limited by the interdiction of incitement to hatred and violence on the basis of ethnic identity, religion or sexuality amongst other grounds. But beside freedom of expression, a much broader set of policy measures is necessary to promote tolerance, like intercultural dialogue or education for tolerance and diversity. Legal responses, such as restrictions on freedom of expression alone, are indeed far from being sufficient to bring about real changes in mind-sets, perceptions and discourse.
The European Humanist Federation, based in Brussels, unites humanist and secularist organizations across Europe. The NSS is an affiliate member.
Vatican’s use of the law to try to hide its secrets looks set to backfire
Posted: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:52
The small German magazine Titanic is being prosecuted by the Pope over the cover of its latest edition which satirises the "Vatileaks" scandal.
The front and back covers of the current issue of the magazine — which show the pope with a yellow stain on his cassock and the headline "The Leak Has Been Found" — are "illegal and harm the holy father's legal rights", says Matthias Kopp, spokesperson for the German Bishops' Conference. "Titanic oversteps every measure of decency," he says.
On Tuesday, a state court in Hamburg issued a temporary injunction against the magazine. The issue has been withdrawn from circulation and the magazine has been forbidden from publishing it on the internet.
The magazine published on its home page a copy of a letter sent by Archbishop Angelo Becciu to a German lawyer in Benedict's name asking him to take "the necessary legal steps against this publication".
"The Holy Father tasks you to institute proceedings against this violation of his personal rights," the letter added.
The magazine's editor Leo Fischer said in a statement:"Benedict must have misunderstood us." He said the cover showed a Pope who had accidentally spilled a soft drink over his cassock in his exuberance. He said that the magazine will fight the ban.
Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: "It is almost unbelievable that a court in a developed Western nation should think it legitimate to go along with the Vatican's authoritarian tendencies and suppress a rather mild satire like this.
"The Vatican comes over once again as a humourless, controlling dictatorship that will brook no criticism. This crazy case will simply draw ever more attention to the things it is trying to cover up. The Pope seems to think that we are still living in the 15th century when deference to his office was expected – whatever outrage was committed.
"So, in the cause of free speech, and at the risk of being burned at the stake, we are publishing the photo here and ask you to read this article about the Vatileaks scandal that the Holy See would rather you didn't know about."
Vatileaks scandal exposes the secrets of the Pope's corrupt empire
(Peter Popham, Daily Beast)
