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GUEST ARTICLE: Freedom of thought thwarts the medieval mind-set extant in

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ANALYSIS: The Voice of New Change

India’s First Online Literary and Education Platform

Vol:I Issue: 1 Page 1

GUEST ARTICLE: Freedom of thought thwarts the medieval mind-set extant in the Middle East.

The article presents a very informative and deep knowledge on the topic of forceful religious conversions, anti-conversion bill and the high-voltage political dialogue happening over these sensitive issues.

JAMES. G. MATKIN, Q.C., GUEST CONTRIBUTOR, for full profile please visit:

http://theanalysis.org/team/Guest-Contributors Without laws protecting religious pluralism and freedom of religion (conscience and thought) countries lose the advantage of critical thinking and the enlightenment that promotes fundamental progress. The United Nations published in 1948 Articles 18 & 19 of THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS:

18. Freedom of Thought. We all have the right to believe in what we want to Believe, to have a religion, or to change it if we want.

19. Freedom of Expression. We all have the right to make up our own

minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas

with other people.1

The United States and Canada have entrenched constitutional guarantees of

freedom of religion won by revolution in the War of 1776 in the US.

Progress. Sadly the Middle East Islam world has failed to advance freedom of

thought.

My paper will analyze why governments should not insult religions from hard

criticism, particularly with blasphemy and anti-conversion laws that sabotage

critical thinking and reform.

“Because it is our nature to think and because our thinking left to itself without

critical analysis leads to bias, distortion, prejudice, uninformed and poor

decisions our very future depends upon freedom of thought and belief. Freedom

is “first, the inward domain of consciousness; demanding liberty of conscience in

the most comprehensive sense; liberty of thought and feeling; absolute freedom

of opinion and sentiment on all subjects, practical or speculative, scientific,

moral, or theological.”2

ANALYSIS: The Voice of New Change

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Vol:I Issue: 1 Page 2

I. RENAISSANCE AND CRITICAL THINKING Wrong thinking has burdened progress throughout history, especially about theology and science where for example we wrongly believed that the earth was flat and the center of the universe, that the Sun and wind were Gods and that enslaving blacks from Africa and mistreating women was our moral right. Breaking the shackles of these dastardly ideas in the West happened when doubters, critical thinkers and scholars of the Protestant Reformation and

Renaissance (15th

and 16th

Centuries) like Martin Luther, Galileo, John Calvin, Colet, Erasmus, and Moore and Francis Bacon attacked the status quo. These brave thinkers had the courage to think critically about religion, art, society, human nature, law, science and freedom and willingly risked death and imprisonment for publishing their thoughts.

Francis Bacon like Mill was explicitly concerned with the way we misuse our

minds in seeking knowledge. He recognized the mind couldn’t safely be left to its

natural tendencies.3

Education created a culture of doubt and science and allowed the Renaissance to life Western countries out of the dark ages, leaving the Middle East and much of Asia behind. Islam populations did not participate because of the backward seminaries and attitudes to education. A recent article in Foreign Affairs explains why.

“The mind-set of the Renaissance never changed in the West once it was

established. In the Middle East, with Islam, the medieval mind-set

remained; along with hard results for the modern world. This clash of worlds

is a clash of thought processes. In Islam their medieval mental outlook

places the worship of their god (Allah) over everything of this world. This

mind-set encourages young men to detonate their explosive –laden selves in

crowded market places. Islam never experienced a Renaissance, and the

resulting ancient view of life is at odds with the post-Renaissance Western

world. In order to truly defeat ISIS and preempt its future cousins, we must

defeat the archaic mindset that birthed it and makes its atrocities

possible, even “honorable.” We need to understand that ISIS isn’t an expression

of Islam per se as much as it is an expression of Islam through a medieval, anti-

modern worldview, influenced and encouraged by the political dynamics and

regional rivalries of today...”4

Bad teaching by religious leaders is at the heart of the backward medieval mind

set. Foreign Affairs explained the history thus:

For centuries, young men have gathered at Islamic seminaries to escape

Western influences and quietly study Islamic texts that have been handed down

unchanged through the ages. But over the last two decades, revolution, Great

ANALYSIS: The Voice of New Change

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power politics and poverty have combined to give the fundamentalist teachings

at some of these madrasas a violent twist. And now, in one of globalization’s

deadlier ironies, these “universities of jihad” are spreading their medieval

theology worldwide FP.5 Reform of backward ideas about religion failed because of rigid barbaric punishments for blasphemy and conversion . I. BLASPHEMY

Blasphemy laws prevented critical analysis of the flaws of religion, particularly

arising from literal interpretations of sacred texts out of context and time.

Forcing adherents to remain in a religion they want to leave makes their deity

nothing more than an insecure barbarian. This horrible idea is nonsense from

our dark medieval past but it still obtains today. Support of anti-conversion laws

is invidious. For example, Saudi blogger Raef Badawi was flogged in public near a mosque in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, receiving 50 lashes for "insulting Islam," news agency AFP said. In September, a Saudi court upheld a sentence of 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for Badawi, and he is expected to have 20 weekly whipping sessions until his punishment is complete. The United States, Amnesty International and Reporters without Borders have denounced the flogging, and

said Badawi was exercising his right to freedom of expression.7

Freedom of religion is denied by laws against blasphemy and certainly the

constitutional principle of freedom of speech should be invoked to protect

critics like Raef Badwi from the barbaric punishment inflicted on him by Saudi

Arabia. In the United States, a prosecution for blasphemy would violate the Constitution

according to the 1952 Supreme Court case, Joseph Burstyn, Inc v. Wilson.8

was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court which determined that provisions of the New York Education Law which allowed a censor to forbid the

ANALYSIS: The Voice of New Change

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commercial showing of a motion picture film it deemed to be "sacrilegious" was a "restraint on freedom of speech" and thereby a violation of the First Amendment.

The United Kingdom abolished its laws against blasphemy in England and Wales in 2008 with the passage of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act. The last person hanged for blasphemy in Great Britain was Thomas Aikenhead, aged 20, in Scotland in 1697. He was prosecuted for denying the veracity of the Old Testament and the legitimacy of Christ's miracles saying in conversation, that theology was a rhapsody of ill-invented nonsense, patched up partly of the moral doctrines of philosophers, and partly of poetical fictions and extravagant chimeras: That he ridiculed the holy scriptures, calling the Old Testament Ezra's fables, in profane

allusion to Esop's Fables .9

Blasphemy is a victimless crime. That is, of course, unless people believe their deity is capable of having hurt feelings.

Aside from being a victimless crime, blasphemy laws punish people for insulting a concept or an idea. Since when is it a goal of the criminal law to protect concepts or ideologies as opposed to people?

Worse, blasphemy laws have served to punish minorities and thereby violate free-speech rights and freedom of religion. Blasphemy laws therefore serve as a

tool to violate human rights, not to enforce them.” 10 II. ANTI-CONVERSION LAWS ARE A SHAM

While Freedom of religion in India is a fundamental right guaranteed by article 25 the country's constitution yet there are serious problems. Modern India came into existence in 1947 and the Indian constitution's preamble states that

India is a secular state.11

Freedom of religion is established in tradition as Hinduism does not recognize labels of distinct religions and has no concept of blasphemy or heresy. Every citizen of India has a right to practice and promote their religion peacefully. W. Sadly Hindu nationalism has spawned anti-conversion laws. In the past, several Indian states passed Freedom of Religion Bills primarily to prevent people from converting to Christianity. Orissa was the

first.12

These laws are badly flawed for example they deny that converting to Christianity would be voluntary if influenced by the compassionate work of

Mother Teresa alleged to be aimed at converting the poor.13

Yes religions compete for adherents and do good works in the process, but it is such muddled and incomprehensible thinking to argue these good works of Saints like Mother Teresa are like bribery or a gift forcing conversion which should be denied by government. These Indian leaders should be ashamed of spouting such nonsense.

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The issue of expanding Anti-conversion laws is now debated at the National level. India’s existing criminal law is adequate to prevent force of any kind, say lawyers and social scientists. Criminal intimidation is punishable under India’s Penal Code, and any attempt to force someone to convert to another religion would be covered under this and other provisions of criminal law, they say… The recent alleged forced conversions have more to do with politics than with the law, which

is “incompetent to handle divisive politics,” said Ms. Ramakrishnan.”14

The nonsense in India about Mother Teresa shows why all religions need to come under critical scrutiny and often the most effective analysis comes in the form of satire.

III. SATIRE ADVANCES CRITICAL THINKING

Satire is a powerful art form, showing the contradictions and hypocrisy from human behaviors, wrong thinking, biased social political and religious views which result from them in such a way that they become absurd, even hilarious. Because satire is never direct and may even suggest the opposite of its true meaning like - “Stick close to your desks and never go to sea And you all may be Rulers of the Queen's Navy” HMS PINAFORE

Satire’s educational effect is like snow the softer it falls, the deeper it sinks in

and the longer it remains. 15

For example, this CHARLIE HEBDO cover shows a Muslim man in a wheelchair pushed by an Orthodox Jew under the title "Untouchables 2," an imaginary sequel to a recently released French film. The pair are saying (rough translation)

"You must not mock us!"16

The genre of Cartoon satire relies on the adage that laughter is the best medicine and that a picture is worth a thousand words. Cartoon satire is special because the exaggerated drawings hone in on the heart of a political or religious controversy showing flaws and warts with such poignancy. The single cartoon picture is a hot medium leaving the rest of the story to your imagination. This is why cartoons are so loved and hated depending on where you stand on the issue being satirized. The

ANALYSIS: The Voice of New Change

India’s First Online Literary and Education Platform

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fact moderate French Muslims tried to shut down the Charlie Hebdo cartoons in court may well have contributed to the horrible barbaric killings by the much more

fanatical ISIS minds says Japan Times.17

IV. SEPARATING CHURCH AND STATE

Western constitutions require a separation of church and state forcing the

judges to delve into the tenets of a particular religion to decide how strong the

claim for preference is within the religion’s theology. The cartoon below

illustrates the problem.

1905 caricature depicting the separation of the church and state IN FRANCE. The man in the middle is Jean-Baptiste Bienvenu-Martin, Minister of Education at the time

Because from a secular view many religious rules are weird and invidious the courts are most uncomfortable protecting these discriminatory practices often treating women like no more than the property of their husbands

Headscarves are a very litigious issue for Muslim women.18

Indeed the tragic history of major theologies treating women badly is disheartening. The cases often deal with conflicts over the way Muslim

women believe they must dress in public. 19

Recently for example in Montreal, Canada in a case where a female Muslim complainant wore her hijab head scarf in court the judge refused to proceed until she removed the hijab because the court had a rule against wearing hats or

ANALYSIS: The Voice of New Change

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scarves in the court. She declined on grounds that as a Muslim her religion

required this apparel at all times when she was in public.20

Is the judge showing a bias against Muslims? Is the Prime Minister of Canada in the also attacking the decision of the Federal Court allowing the niqab to be worn during a citizenship ceremony on the grounds only saying, “this is not how we things

here.” 21

A terrible example in Saudi Arabia where religious apparel rules interpreted

literally cost a school class of young ladies their live. “Around the middle of

March 2002, Saudi newspapers reported an incident that took place in Mecca,

the Prophet Muhammad’s birthplace. According to the official account, at least

fourteen young girls burned to death or were asphyxiated by smoke when an

accidental fire engulfed their public school. Parents who arrived at the scene

described a horrific situation in which the doors of the school were locked from

the outside, and the Saudi religious police, known as mutawwa’un, forcibly

prevented girls from escaping the burning school and also barred firemen from

entering the school to sve the girls by beating some of the girls and several of the

civil defense personnel. According to the statements of parents, firemen, and the

regular police forces present at

the scene, the mutawwa’un would not allow the girls to escape or to be saved

because they were “not properly covered,” and the mutawwa,un did not want

physical contact to take place between the girls and civil defense forces for fear of

secual enticement, presumably in the midst of crisis. “Not properly covered

meant the girls were either missing the neqab, a veil concealing their faces, or the

‘abaya, a cloaklike wrap covering their bodies. …Three days after the event, the

Saudi government ordered all newspapers to desist from publishing anything

about the tragedy, and to date no one has been prosecuted or fired for the death of

the girls. The tragedy was reported in the media extensively in the West, but

received very limited coverage in the Muslim world… There are no words to

describe the morally depravity of this incident.”22

The Supreme Court of Canada recently rendered a comprehensive

decision about freedom of religion in a case of sexual assault

where the Muslim victim refused to remove her niqab at the trial

of her assailant. Muslim witness at preliminary hearing in sexual

assault trial wanting to testify with her face covered by niqab —

Whether permitting her to wear niqab while testifying would

create a serious risk to trial fairness. The preliminary inquiry judge held a voir dire, concluded that N.S's religious belief was "not that strong," and ordered her to remove her niqab...23

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Here the court had to sort out a conflict between two fundamental values –

freedom of religion and right to a fair trial. 24

The court concluded: “The answer lies in a just and proportionate balance between freedom of religion and trial fairness, based on the particular case before the court. A witness who for sincere religious reasons wishes to wear the niqab while testifying in a criminal proceeding will be required to remove it if (a) this is necessary to prevent a serious risk to the fairness of the trial, because reasonably available alternative measures will not prevent the risk; and (b) the salutary effects of requiring her to remove the niqab outweigh the

deleterious effects of doing so.”25

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V. GOING FORWARD

Governments should advance freedom of religion as a fundamental and

constitutional value in their countries like India has done expecting that the benefit

will be a more enlightened citizenry. Courts in India should strike down anti-

conversion and blasphemy laws as void under the constitution. Radical Muslim

teachers spewing religious hate, slavishly following literal and outdated

interpretations of the Koran and urging Jihadists for example to kill all infidels and

to sell captive women as concubines will not survive must be weeded out of the

schools.26

The opportunity now is to end the medieval mind-set with an Arab Renaissance

as occurred in the West in the 15th

centuries and this is happening in fact in the

United States after 9/11. Time magazine story last year asserts, “Critics of Islam and Muslims scoff at this romanticism, asserting that Muslims have not produced anything great since the Middle Ages and most likely will ever again. The inherent bigotry and even fallacy of that argument aside, for those critics I have to say, look out, a new Muslim

renaissance is upon us.27

“In a climate where America still finds itself in an uncomfortable dance with Islam, the fact that Muslims themselves are becoming

thought and culture leaders in America has tremendous prospects.”28

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References:- 1 THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATIONOF HUMANRIGHTS 1948.

2 John Stuart Mill is an important 19th century Utilitarian, concerned to help create a critical society, feared conformism among the masses, what he saw as sheep-like uniformity which imposed narrow parochial Views and arbitrary rules on those more enlightened. On Mill’s view, a critical society would necessarily entail freedom of thought and the granting of fundamental human right, from his classic essay entitled On Liberty. 3 In his book The Advancement of Learning, he argued for the importance of studying the world empirically. He laid the foundation for modern science with his emphasis on the information-gathering processes. 4 The Super Summary of World History by Alan Dale Daniel, 2010.

5 Hu s a i n Ha q q a n i , FOREIGN POLICY, NOV. 10, 2009. ht t p: / / f or e i

gnpol i c y. c om / 2009/ 1 1/ 10/ i s l a m s -me d i e v a l - out pos t s /

6 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/01/64-­‐percent-­‐of-­‐muslims-­‐in-­‐ Egypt-‐and-‐pakistan-‐support-‐the-‐death-‐penalty-‐for-‐leaving-‐islam/

7 Saudi Arabian blogger and activist Raif Badawi, and Ensaf Haidar, has

revealed that "official sources" that indicates judges in Saudi Arabia's

criminal court are pushing for Badawi's re-trial for apostasyf found guilty of

apostasy, Badawi could face the death penalty under Saudi law.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/saudi- arabia-blogger-raif-badawi-may-now-

face-death-penalty-1489989

8 343 U.S. 495 (1952)[2] (also referred to as the "Miracle Decision"), 9 Text of indictment at Google Books from T. B. Howell (editor): A complete collection of state trials and proceedings for high treason and other crimes and misdemeanors from the earliest period to 1783, with notes and other illustrations, Volume 13, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, 1816 10 Social Justice: Time for Canada to get rid of its blasphemy laws http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201411244342/commentary/social-justice-time-for-canada-to-get-rid-of-its-blasphemy- laws Mo n d a y, 2 4 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 4 0 0 : 0 8 | W r i t t e n B y A l a n S h a n o f f

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11 "Preface, The constitution of India". http://india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/constitution-india-full- text. Government of India. Retrieved 5 February 2015. 12 Arunachal Pradesh passed a bill in 1978. In 2003, Gujarat State, passed an anti-conversion. 13 “People like Mother Teresa did good work and service. But the aim was to

convert the poor to Christianity. This kind of service is devalued if conversions are done in the name of service or work,” he said. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/mother-teresa-a-noble-soul-please-spare-her- kejriwal/article6928388.ece?ref=relatedNews 14 http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/01/09/the-­‐arguments-­‐for-­‐and-­‐against-­‐a-­‐national-­‐anti-­‐ conversion-­‐law/ 15 https://www.academia.edu/10435855/SNOW_-­‐ _Nobel_prize_novel_by_Orhan_Pamuk_exploring_politics_love_secularism_blasphemy_and_Islamic_fundamentali sts_in_Turkey_with_brilliant_metaphor 16 Business Insider Ho w C h a r l i e He b d o Be c a m e A To p Te r r o r i s t Ta r g e t THOMAS HIRST Jan 07, 2015 http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-how- charlie-hebdo-became-a-top-terrorist-target-2015-1#ixzz3Of5eXG6h 17 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/01/64-­‐percent-­‐of-­‐muslims-­‐in-­‐egypt-­‐ and-­‐pakistan-­‐support-­‐the-­‐death-­‐penalty-­‐for-­‐leaving-­‐islam/ 18 Veiling and Headscarf-Skepticism in Turkey Ayşe Saktanber and Gül Çorbacioğlu http://sp.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/4/433.full 19 The Distinction Between the Freedom of Religion and the Right to Manifest Religion: A Legal Medium to Regulate Subjectivities Social Legal Studies (2013) 22 (3): 377-393

20 Judge Eliana Marengo is heard telling Rania El-Alloul on Tuesday that the courtroom is a secular place and that she is not suitably dressed. "Hats and sunglasses for example, are not allowed. And I don't see why scarves on the head would be either," Marengo says in the recording 21 A veiled appeal to racism: the niqab debate By Rafe Mair | Feb 27, 2015

22The Great Theft PAGES 250-251. 23 SUPREME COURT OF CANADA

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Citation: R. v. N.S., 2012 SCC 72, [2012] 3 S.C.R. 726 Docket: 33989 24 Citation: R. v. N.S., 2012 SCC 72, [2012] 3 S.C.R. 726. 25 IBID. 26 THE ECONOMIST To have and to hold Jihadists boast of selling captive women as concubines Oct 18th 2014 27 Rabia Cahaudry TIME MAGAZINE, http://time.com/65094/look-­‐out-­‐for-­‐the-­‐ New-‐Muslim-‐renaissance/ 28 Id ?In the past five years American Muslims are leading movements to revive or reform perspectives on religious inclusion, most notably the inclusion of women and LGBTQ Muslims in sacred spaces.”

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