Herald Column: Happy Blasphemy Day

This week's Calgary Herald column from yours truly looks at a pair of stories from recent days and how they relate to International Blasphemy Day: 

...Whether its cartoons, books, newspaper editorials, or elephant statues, it seems to take very little these days to rile up the religiously hypersensitive.

 

In some cases, such tweaking is very much deliberate. Other times, though, the offence is entirely unintended.

 

This very newspaper is a testament to the perils of running afoul of certain sensibilities. Last week, the Alberta Human Rights Commission dismissed a complaint against the Herald over an April 2002 editorial deemed to have been offensive to Muslims.

 

Last week also bore witness to one of the strangest examples of religious grievance one will ever encounter. The statue welcoming visitors to the Calgary Zoo's elephant exhibit has drawn the wrath of Concerned Christians Canada (CCC).

 

The issue here seems to surround the depiction of the Hindu god Ganesh, which has not produced any noticeable negative reaction from any Hindu anywhere.

 

Those offended would seem to be solely of the Christian variety; those who apparently believe their own religion holds some special elevated status in Canada.

 

The letter sent by the CCC condemns the display of a "foreign god," and also makes reference to what it perceives to be the fundamentalist views of our nation's founding fathers.

 

The letter also complains of "religious indoctrination" and bemoans the public display of religion. This is the same group, mind you, which proudly boasts that it lobbies all three levels of government for "Christian values." In other words, religious indoctrination for me, not for thee.

 

Let us first establish here that no "religious indoctrination" whatsoever is occurring at the zoo.

 

Of course, the vast majority of zoo visitors probably know little or nothing of Ganesh--an unfamiliarity that will survive even prolonged statue exposure, as no reference to any religion or god is to be found. To most observers, the statue is that of a cheery anthropomorphized elephant--with some Asian flavour.

 

And that's the point: these are Asian elephants on display, so this sort of cultural reference is entirely logical and not at all controversial.

 

Since removing the statue is not an option, there is the CCC's plan 'B'. The group would like to see a Noah's Ark display at the Calgary Zoo, although it's unclear to me why Christians are so eager to tout this story.

 

If you're looking to promote your religion, the story of how your god ruthlessly murdered (by drowning, no less) all but Noah's household of the Earth's inhabitants might not be your first choice.

 

But, if the Calgary Zoo wishes to make amends by adding such an exhibit, might I suggest it be located near the new Koala exhibit.

 

After all, I'm sure visitors might be curious as to how such an inactive animal with such a specific diet would have journeyed all the way from Australia to Mount Ararat. Or, how Noah managed to round them up in the first place.

 

Fortunately, no such exhibit is in the offing and the CCC's outrage has been met with derision, even from other Christians.

 

The lesson here, though, is that the cries of offence from religious special interest groups usually mask another agenda. The solution to addressing these grievances invariably involves a course of action that elevates religious beliefs or shields them from criticism --a de facto blasphemy law.

 

It is no coincidence that where blasphemy laws are most vigorously enforced, freedom of speech and religion are minimal or nonexistent.