A little late to the party, perhaps, but to celebrate International Blasphemy Day (30 September), I thought it appropriate to share a couple of photos of my first edition copy of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. It is one of my most beloved possessions, and I hope one day to have it signed by Rushdie himself. Quite apart from the fact that the novel is at the centre of the blasphemy crisis of our era, I think The Satanic Verses is a gorgeous and brilliant work of literature. Even without the intervention of the Ayatollah Khomeini, it would stand as one of the most important books of the past half-century or so. Like its author, it deserves artistic recognition. Sadly, the Iranian theocracy has ensured that it will always be overshadowed by the ‘controversy’ surrounding it.
Be that as it may, Salman Rushdie and The Satanic Verses represent all that must be defended from theocrats and thugs of all stripes, foremost the idea of free expression. As Rushdie put it in 1991, ‘Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself.’ The threat to Rushdie is still very real, as the events of August 2022 all too vividly demonstrated, as is the threat to dissenters the world over—from Islamic bigots, righteous ‘woke’ bullies, Christian nationalists, and sundry other of the nasty and small-minded among us.
The freedom to blaspheme is a right and a privilege that should never be forsaken. It is freedom itself, to echo Rushdie. Below is a miscellany of some relevant Freethinker articles from various contributors on the subjects of blasphemy, free speech, and my favourite living writer.
Rushdie’s victory, by Daniel James Sharp
‘Words are the only victors’ – Salman Rushdie’s ‘Victory City’, reviewed, by Daniel James Sharp
An upcoming secularist conference on the safeguarding of liberal values in a time of crisis, by Stephen Evans
Blasphemy and violence: review of ‘Demystifying the Sacred’, by Adam Wakeling
The need for a new Enlightenment, by Christopher Hitchens
‘Nature is super enough, thank you very much!’: interview with Frank Turner, by Daniel James Sharp
Blasphemy and bishops: how secularists are navigating the culture wars, by Emma Park
Cancel culture and religious intolerance: ‘Falsely Accused of Islamophobia’, by Steven Greer, by Daniel James Sharp
The perils of dropping a book, by Noel Yaxley
The need to rekindle irreverence for Islam in Muslim thought, by Kunwar Khuldune Shahid
The ‘Women’s Revolution’: from two activists in Iran, by Rastine Mortad and Sadaf Sepiddasht
The resurgence of enlightenment in southern India: interview with Bhavan Rajagopalan, by Emma Park
Secularism and the struggle for free speech, by Stephen Evans
Milton’s ‘Areopagitica’: liberty and licensing, by Tony Howe
Image of the week: Redacted, by Paul Fitzgerald
The return of blasphemy in Ireland, by Noel Yaxley
British Islam and the crisis of ‘wokeism’ in universities, interview with Steven Greer by Emma Park
Free speech at universities: where do we go from here? by Julius Weinberg
Freethought and secularism, by Bob Forder
Freethought in the 21st century, by Christoph De Spiegeleer and Emma Park
Silence of the teachers, by a secondary school teacher
Jackboots in Manchester 暴政踐踏之下的曼徹斯特, by Simon Cheng
Free speech in Britain: a losing battle? from our Faith Watch series
The price of criticising Islam in northern Nigeria: imprisonment or death, by Emma Park
Mubarak Bala: update on a ‘blasphemer’ in Nigeria, by Emma Park
Cartoon: Jesus and Mo on civil rights, by Mohammed Jones
Free speech and the ‘Farage riots’, by Noel Yaxley
‘F*** it, think freely!’ Interview with Brian Cox, by Daniel James Sharp
Rap versus theocracy: Toomaj Salehi and the fight for a free Iran, by Noel Yaxley
Three years on, the lessons of Batley are yet to be learned, by Jack Rivington
From Satan to the Hate Monster, by Emma Park
The Galileo of Pakistan? Interview with Professor Sher Ali, by Ehtesham Hassan
Is the spirit of liberty dead in Scotland? by Noel Yaxley
Escaping Ideology with Jonathan Church: Freethinker editor Daniel James Sharp in conversation
‘The best way to combat bad speech is with good speech’, interview with Maryam Namazie by Emma Park
The radicalisation of young Muslims in the UK: an ongoing problem? by Khadija Khan
Religion and the decline of freethought in South Asia, by Kunwar Khuldune Shahid
Blasphemy Month at the Freethinker, by Emma Park
Britain’s blasphemy heritage, by David Nash
On trial for blasphemy: the Freethinker’s first editor and offensive cartoons, by Bob Forder
From the archive: imprisoned for blasphemy, by Emma Park
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