The Center for Inquiry, an atheist organization, launched the first International Blasphemy Day on September 30. It chose that day because it marked the anniversary of the 2005 publication of the Danish cartoons that so inflamed Muslims worldwide.
Billed as a free speech event designed to oppose such things as a Muslim-sponsored U.N. resolution banning criticism of religion, the day drew the support of people like PZ Myers. Myers, a professor at the University of Minnesota known for intentionally desecrating a consecrated Host, said the day was established to “mock and insult religion without fear of murder, violence, and reprisal”; he wants every day to be Blasphemy Day.
Bill Donohue responded with a statement to the press: “The Center for Inquiry is factually incorrect to say that ‘Free speech is the foundation on which other liberties rest.’ Freedom of conscience is the first liberty, and it is inextricably linked to freedom of religion. Moreover, the whole concept of inalienable rights presupposes a belief in the Creator. In other words, atheists have the right to mock religion because our Christian Founding Fathers afforded them human rights.”
They are all such phonies. The stated purpose of Blasphemy Day has nothing to do with any religion but Islam, yet there was not one scheduled event insulting Muslims. We can only guess why. So the religious haters showed once more that it is Christians, especially Catholics, that they want to bash.
The events were run by crazies. Artist Dana Ellyn wandered to Washington, D.C. to show her masterpiece, “Jesus Does His Nails,” a portrait of Jesus polishing a nail jammed into his hand. In Los Angeles, there was a film about a gay molesting priest and another about a boy who is so angry about being sent to bed that he asks God to kill his parents. Oh, yes, American Atheists conducted “De-Baptisms” in New Jersey.
“Nice to know that even the atheists know that Christians can be counted on to react to their antics like good Christians,” Donohue said. “Which is why there will be no violence.”
