International Blasphemy Rights Day
0 views
Skip to first unread message
Chad Olsen
Sep 29, 2025, 1:00:34 PM (12 days ago) Sep 29
to Lakeside Freethinkers
I received the following from Robyn E. Blumner CEO and President, Center for Inquiry and Executive Director, Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science! I thought it was worth sending on to you.
"Hello--
September 30 is International Blasphemy Rights Day, an important yearly reminder of why protecting free speech, freethought, and free inquiry is so crucial—though, sadly, that’s a warning America’s political leaders seem ever more determined to ignore.
In just the past few weeks, we have taken steps to beat back blasphemy laws from Massachusetts to Morocco. I was very proud to see CFI’s United Nations Representative Kacem El Ghazzali speak so clearly and so powerfully before the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, where he condemned the use of blasphemy laws to silence dissent and imprison atheists and freethinkers.
One of the activists he specifically mentioned, Ibtissam “Betty” Lachgar, is facing thirty months in prison and a significant fine for posting a picture of herself in a t-shirt that reads “Allah is a lesbian.” Her case has prompted widespread international alarm, and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science is joining petitioners the world over to demand her release.
Of course, the road toward blasphemy laws—and using them to prosecute dissent by “apostates”—begins with the establishment of a state religion. The Founding Fathers saw the dangers in this and created specific mechanisms to keep church and state separate. President Donald Trump, cheered on by the aggressive Christian Nationalists who support him, continues to assault those guardrails, most recently with the introduction of his “America Prays” initiative.
Just as alarming as the religious and ideological assaults on freethought are the (different but equally dangerous) ideological and emotional attacks on free inquiry, especially as it pertains to evidence-backed science. Richard Dawkins has a powerful essay in the latest issue of Free Inquiry that details why scientific truth must stand above politics and feelings.
We know that humanity has it within itself to overcome its deeply ingrained instincts toward superstition and oppression; the Enlightenment proved that and organizations like ours could not exist if it weren’t true. But maintaining that progress—and advancing it further—requires that we work for it.
In just the past few weeks, we have taken steps to beat back blasphemy laws from Massachusetts to Morocco. I was very proud to see CFI’s United Nations Representative Kacem El Ghazzali speak so clearly and so powerfully before the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, where he condemned the use of blasphemy laws to silence dissent and imprison atheists and freethinkers.
One of the activists he specifically mentioned, Ibtissam “Betty” Lachgar, is facing thirty months in prison and a significant fine for posting a picture of herself in a t-shirt that reads “Allah is a lesbian.” Her case has prompted widespread international alarm, and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science is joining petitioners the world over to demand her release.
Of course, the road toward blasphemy laws—and using them to prosecute dissent by “apostates”—begins with the establishment of a state religion. The Founding Fathers saw the dangers in this and created specific mechanisms to keep church and state separate. President Donald Trump, cheered on by the aggressive Christian Nationalists who support him, continues to assault those guardrails, most recently with the introduction of his “America Prays” initiative.
Just as alarming as the religious and ideological assaults on freethought are the (different but equally dangerous) ideological and emotional attacks on free inquiry, especially as it pertains to evidence-backed science. Richard Dawkins has a powerful essay in the latest issue of Free Inquiry that details why scientific truth must stand above politics and feelings.
We know that humanity has it within itself to overcome its deeply ingrained instincts toward superstition and oppression; the Enlightenment proved that and organizations like ours could not exist if it weren’t true. But maintaining that progress—and advancing it further—requires that we work for it.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to that effort and your continued support of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science."
Chad
lloyd kumley
Sep 29, 2025, 1:26:17 PM (12 days ago) Sep 29
to lakeside-f...@googlegroups.com
Thanks, Chad, for bringing this important issue to my attention.
Blasphemy laws and other similar methods that use rigid religious rules to prosecute
and oppose dissent are reprehensible and ought to be opposed especially by all non-theists.
Perhaps the subject for a monthly program?
Lloyd
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Lakeside Freethinkers" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to lakeside-freethi...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/lakeside-freethinkers/CAGaWurnYHdN%3DqFbt8YG9g%3Dp-yCqkULijs%3DkFYWVtBLUM194DBw%40mail.gmail.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages