Ian Boyne, Contributor

The jihadists and Islamic militants won another victory last week when fears of their terrorist actions forced a leading opera house in Germany to cancel a three-year-old Mozart production which would have depicted the severed head of Prophet Muhammad.

Free speech suffered a blow because of the harsh reality that the staging of the opera could incite violence in many places, as it did when the depictions of the Prophet, forbidden in Islam, were used by Danish cartoonists. Also, no less a revered person than the Pope was the subject of vehement and violent demonstrations in a number of Islamic countries when he dared to quote a Byzantine Emperor criticising Muhammad.

As a result of brute force and terror tactics, the cherished values of free speech, tolerance and pluralism are under fire wherever anyone dares to offend Muslims and their so-called holy Prophet Muhammad.

Deliberate offence

My use of 'so-called' is a deliberate offence to make the point that free speech must include the right to offend. There is a place for what is called good taste, and discourtesy should be abhorred. But it should never be made illegal - and by no stretch should be made punishable by death, as the Islamic fanatics would decree for offence to their dead Prophet.

Interestingly, the opera which was cancelled due to fear of Islamic terror also had a part depicting the severed heads of Jesus Christ and Buddha. Christians and Buddhists would also be offended by this depiction but the producers of the opera did not fear that they would become violent.

Christians have been socialised away from imposing their views on others and have warmed, however reluctantly, to a culture of respectful accommodation to secular society and pluralism. The Buddhists have always practised a religion of peace and have been among the most peaceful of religious adherents historically. (Not so with the Christians).

I agree totally with Berlin's Mayor Klaus Wowereit who expressed disappointment at the decision to cancel the opera: "Our ideas about openness, tolerance and freedom must be lived on the offensive. Voluntary self-limitation gives those who fight against our values a confirmation in advance that we will not stand behind them." It is my fervent view that those who stand for the civilised values of tolerance, pluralism, cosmopolitanism, freedom of expression and freedom of the press must vociferously oppose all forms of totalitarianism and repression of ideas. Let a hundred flowers bloom.

Self-censorship

The German Government's top cultural official, Bernd Neumann, was absolutely correct: "Problems cannot be solved by keeping silent.When the concern over possible protests leads to self-censorship, then the democratic culture of free speech becomes endangered." The Islamic militants might not be bombing as many buildings in the West as they would like, in their bid to be faithful to Allah, but they are succeeding in intimidating people to cower under the very threat of their terrorist action. The civilised world will give in to this barbarism at its own peril.

Max Boot (admittedly, a right-winger) writes in the Los Angeles Times last Wednesday that "while demanding respect for their own religion, too many Muslims accord too little respect to competing faiths, or even to competing brands of their own faith." Referring to the Pope as "the dog of Rome" or a "worshipper of the cross" is hardly the most respectful categorisation. A debate ensues as to whether advocacy of violence and terrorism is integral to Islam, or is just being used by a minority of fanatics. Debate rages over the true meaning of jihad - whether it is purely spiritual, having to do with the spiritual struggle to develop character, or whether it should be taken as literally holy war to violently impose Islamic will. Leave that alone. There are some things which are clear.

Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him, if not anyone else) is reported to have said in his farewell address to his followers: "I was ordered to fight all men until they say 'there is no God but Allah'." The highly influential Muslim leader Saladin who drove the crusaders out of Jerusalem said in 1189: "I shall cross this sea to their islands to pursue them until there remain no one on the face of the earth who does not acknowledge Allah."

We have everything to fear and, consequently, to oppose any set of religious adherents who would seek to impose their will on all, or who refuse to allow other views to contend. This has absolutely nothing to do a with any 'Western democracy' or 'bourgeois democracy'. It has to do with the condition of finite, fallible humanity and the fact that our failure to agree epistemologically demands that we allow all views to contend.

Make no mistake about it: The West is not consistent in its advocacy of freedom of speech. Right there in Germany where the mayor was self-righteously (and rightly) standing up for free speech it is punishable by law to say that the Holocaust was a myth, or to display Nazi symbols. That is inconsistent with free speech. Free speech must include the risk of falsehood and even deception. It must protect absurd claims.

There are many things taking place in the U.S. diametrically opposed to free speech. In fact, so-called hate speech legislation in the U.S. is antithetical to free speech. In parts of Europe you can be thrown in jail for calling homosexuality an abomination and for using harsh terms to describe gay people. Fundamentalists should be free to offend gay people as they should be free to offend black people. Now, some of these same readers who would want to see Muhammad's head chopped off in that opera, and who were outraged and agreeing with me that the opera should not have been banned, have parted company with me now. They don't feel deejays should have the right to attack the lifestyle of homosexuals or to call them Sodomites.

Anti-gay lyrics

Well, I have to be consistent: Gay people have the democratic right to use their influence and power to withdraw support from anti-gay artistes, but they have no right to demand that freedom of expression be curtailed because they are insulted by anti-gay lyrics.

As long as the deejays are not calling for their death - which is illegal - they should be free to blast their homosexual lifestyle. Many gay people are at the forefront of the struggle against freedom of expression. Left to them, fundamentalist preachers would not have the right to come on the media to preach against them and to consign them to Hell. These enemies of freedom hide under the shield of sensitivity, 'historical prejudice' and 'respect for minorities' to deny fundamentalists and other conservatives the right to inveigh against their lifestyle.

In North America, particularly Canada, televangelists have to tone down their criticisms of gay people because the stations will not carry them for fear of reactions from powerful advertisers and the gay lobby. They don't use bombs, burning effigies and guns to intimidate and literally kill, but they use their money power and status to kill freedom of expression and to punish media outlets which oppose their 'alternative lifestyle'. The enemies of freedom are on all sides. The impulse to squelch freedom of expression is very strong.

Critical journalism

Politicians don't like to be criticised. This is why they get nervous about a genuinely free press. Politicians only grudgingly allow it. They don't generally love the free press, especially when they are in power. Politicians have a vested interest to hide information, to manipulate it and to manage it. Free speech and freedom of the press is anathema to their modus operandi. And they use all kinds of means, some subtle, to punish those who really believe in practising critical journalism.

The enemies of freedom are found everywhere, Left, Right Centre and Forward. We must fight them on all fronts.

In the current issue of the atheistic magazine Free Inquiry there is an interesting article, 'Should we respect religion?' The author answers in the negative. And I agree that not all religious ideas should be respected, though all within the law should be tolerated. I do not respect the religious view practised in ancient religion where children were passed through the fire in honour of their gods. I deeply disrespect that religious view. I don't respect the practice of some Hindus of sacrificing to the River Ganges.

I don't respect any religious view which says women are inferior to men. I don't respect any religion which teaches the 'Serpent Seed' doctrine, that is, that blacks and Jews are the offspring of the Serpent mentioned in Genesis and that they were not really created by God. I despise that religious view.

I despise religions which promote hate, bigotry, intolerance. We have no obligation to respect them. So let's dispense with this polite view that "I disagree with you but I respect your point of view." I respect your right to hold nonsensical and damnable beliefs, but I don't respect those views themselves.

Pluralistic society

I don't respect every religion or religious ideology. But in a pluralistic society every religion which does not openly advocate breaking of the community's laws should be free to operate ands propagate. Religions which offend and insult should be accorded the right to publicise their views. As the atheist wrote in Free Inquiry, and I concur: "Freedom of speech is more important than respect. Totalitarian extremists, of whatever religion or sect, invariably put faith first and freedom nowhere. Censorship, including insidious self-censorship, is then the order of the day, followed closely by violence. In a society where religious orthodoxy rules, there is no freedom of religion."

This is why I strongly oppose a theocratic society, whether Muslim or Christian. I fear those Christians who want to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth now because what this means inevitably is that what they consider non-Christian views will not be entertained. I trust Christ to establish His own rule. His children and self-proclaimed representatives have done a lousy job of it every time they have tried.

Ian Boyne is a veteran journalist. Email ianboyne1@yahoo.com