Free speech is sacred (Video: Pat Condell, via YouTube)

The censorious thuggery displayed by the National Organization for Heteros-only Marriage in forcing the removal of the audition tapes for their Gathering Stormtroopers television ad brought to mind this brilliant video essay by noted non-believer Pat Condell. In the video, Condell addresses an effort, at the United Nations, by Islamic states to criminalize the defamation of religion — all religions, but especially Islam.

Radical Islam’s not-so-distant cousins, the American Taliban, are, by the same token, Hellbent on preventing criticism of its relentless attempts to create a theocracy in a country that was once a paragon of personal liberty and free speech.

I’ve had some of the leading dim bulbs of the radical religious right threaten me with lawsuits and arrest a number of times in an effort to silence me. Phooey! This weekend is Blog Against Theocracy 2009. Consider this my opening shot. I encourage my fellow bloggers, who likewise cherish freedom of speech and the separation of church and state, to participate in this act of defiance.

Excellent resources:

• First Freedom First
• Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
• The Wall of Separation
• The American Civil Liberties Union
• Religious Right Watch
• Dispatches from the Culture Wars
• Talk2Action
• Austin Cline
• One Good Move
• Panda’s Thumb
• Pharyngula
• Richard Dawkins
• Sam Harris
• Greta Christina’s Blog
• Heaving Dead Cats

Tags: Blasphemy, Britain, Crazy Fundies, Europe, Pat Condell, The Right, TheoFascism, Video

This entry was posted on Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 8:10 am and is filed under People, Places, Politics, Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.