Get Religion has a good article about the recent approval, by the UN Human Rights Council, of a resolution "that calls on nation states to limit criticism of religions in general and Islam in particular." Phooey, I say. Malcolm, opining on the same turn of events, called the resolution "a craven act of appeasement." Jeff Hodges, commenting on Malcolm's site, wrote, "Islam should not be safeguarded from criticism, ridicule, or disdain. Nor should any other religion. Can’t take the heat? Get out of the kitchen."
The good news is that UN resolutions are almost universally ignored-- not just by Western powers, but by those inimical to Western values like freedom of speech (we're about to see several UN resolutions ignored by North Korea, and no one will lift a finger to stop it). In other words, the approval of this resolution means, in a practical sense, next to nothing.
The bad news is that pressure continues to mount in favor of political correctness. That's a shame: religion is often a great source of humor, both intended and unintended, and I see nothing wrong with mining religion's comic potential. Besides, the proper religious response to perceived insults should be humility, a value that is nearly universally preached, but so rarely practiced. Muslims and Christians (and, judging by some of the folks who inhabit the Beliefnet message boards, Western Buddhists) with oversensitivity issues need to unpucker their sphincters.
I've written elsewhere about my appreciation for the work of French cartoonist Claude Serre. Back in the 1980s, which is when I first became aware of him, Serre was routinely mocking European Christianity in his hilarious cartoons. Some of my favorite Serre works involve portrayals of Jesus: Jesus winning a swimming contest by running across the surface of the pool, or Jesus accidentally jamming his hands through the stigmata-holes in his feet while attempting a high dive. I can see how such pictures might be offensive to the more straitlaced among us, but that very straitlaced-ness is indicative of a deeper problem: idolatry.
I'm using the term "idolatry" in its Western Zen sense. It's a cousin of the Buddhist notion of "attachment" (upadana), which refers to the human tendency to cling to things-- ideas, people, habits, institutions, etc.-- as if they were permanent instead of being the flowing, ever-changing processes they actually are. Turning Jesus into a fetish-- a fixed concept and not a living, dynamic reality-- is an example of this sort of idolatry, and it's what ultimately leads people to become uptight and easily offended. When Jesus becomes "my Jesus," with the "my" implying a sense of ownership, we kill him. The same is true for ideas in other religious traditions as well.
There are many things I'd like to change about religion. Chief among them is adherents' overall lack of a sense of humor when it comes to the most cherished religious beliefs, customs, and images. Living in a pluralistic world means conceding the need for freedom of speech. This need isn't served by restrictive resolutions, and no religion qualifies as a special case.
Let me finish by reposting something I'd written back in Easter of 2006:
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Alan Watts, well-known Zennist and LSD-lover (according to one biography, he even did acid while staying at some Japanese temples-- I'm not sure how well-received such behavior was by the local monks), wrote a great little essay that appears in an old collection, The Gospel According to Zen. The essay is called "Wash Out Your Mouth," and I was happy to see that someone has placed the piece in its entirety online.
I've reprinted the essay below. Don't commit the genetic fallacy against Watts: the man himself wasn't a shining example of Zen-style living, but his words are still sound dharma.
WASH OUT YOUR MOUTH
Christian piety makes a strange image of the object of its devotion, "Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." The bearded moralist with the stern, kind, and vaguely hurt look in the eyes. The man with the lantern, knocking at the heart's door. "Come along now, boys! Enough of this horsing around! It's time you and I had a very serious talk." Christ Jesus our Lord. Jeez-us. Jeez-you. The Zen Buddhists say, "Wash out your mouth every time you say "Buddha!" The new life for Christianity begins just as soon as someone can get up in church and say, "Wash out your mouth every time you say 'Jesus!'"
For we are spiritually paralyzed by the fetish of Jesus. Even to atheists he is the supremely good man, the exemplar and moral authority with whom no one may disagree. Whatever our opinions, we must perforce wrangle the words of Jesus to agree with them. Poor Jesus! If he had known how great an authority was to be projected upon him, he would never have said a word. His literary image in the Gospels has, through centuries of homage, become far more of an idol than anything graven in wood or stone, so that today the most genuinely reverent act of worship is to destroy that image. In his own words, "It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Paraclete [the Holy Spirit] cannot come unto you." Or, as the angel said to the disciples who came looking for the body of Jesus in the tomb, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen and has gone before you...." But Christian piety does not let him go away, and continues to seek the living Christ in the dead letter of the historical record. As he said to the Jews, "You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life."
The Crucifixion gives eternal life because it is the giving up of God as an object to be possessed, known, and held to for one's own safety: "For he that would save his soul shall lose it." To cling to Jesus is therefore to worship a Christ uncrucified, an idol instead of the living God.
Today is Holy Saturday. According to tradition, our sins are being expurgated as Jesus burns in hell for our sake. The Lord is off the cross and buried, out of sight. But is the idea of "Lord" out of mind, as it should be?
Not every one that saith unto Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father who is in Heaven.
(Mt. 7:21, 21st cent. KJV)
Just live your life, and your life will be sermon enough. Leave piety-- especially public piety-- for the self-righteous.
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1 comment:
What if a fundamental tenet of a religion is that it cannot be criticized, not to mention made fun of? And what if there are adherents of that religion who are willing to harm you in response to any criticism, real or imagined? I don't see appeals to reason as having much affect.
In 1989 Andres Serrano exhibited a picture of a crucifix immersed in (what he said was) his own urine. Lots of people were angry about that, but Serrano didn't have to go into hiding. What if he'd done the same thing to a crescent and star?
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