Tolerance is key in the wake of tragedy
- By Mitchell Blatt
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E-mail China.org.cn, January 15, 2015
If Choudary loves Muhammad more than his own mother, as he said in the USA Today, he has to answer to his mother about that. I don't love Muhammad and neither do I love Jesus. But I am not going to tell either Choudary or Donahue to convert to my set of beliefs, and they shouldn't tell me to convert to theirs.
Both of the two men have offended millions with their commentaries over the past few years and especially in recent days. There's no right, however, not to be offended. For example, when Donahue said "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews," he offended a lot of Jews and opponents of anti-Semitism. When Choudary said in an interview with the BBC, "If you are not a Muslim, then you are guilty of not believing in God," he insulted the vast majority of the world's believers in God who follow religions other than Islam. Such insipid commentary is wrong, but they can and do say it.
The activists, by virtue of the laws of their respective countries, have the right to speak freely. In the United States, with its First Amendment, virtually all speech that doesn't cross into the realm of inciting violence is protected. British free speech rights aren't quite as expansive as those in the United States, as categories of hateful and racist speech are regulated. These rights ought to be dear to the hearts of the controversial speakers, considering that their own speech so often veers into the realm of offensive and hateful.
Unfortunately, Choudary wrote that he only respects the laws of his own interpretation of Islam, not the laws of his home country: "Contrary to popular misconception, Islam does not mean peace but rather means submission to the commands of Allah alone. Therefore, Muslims do not believe in the concept of freedom of expression…"
Donahue seems to think that only Catholics can be right. When he made his call for people to convert, he said, "In an ideal world, Muslims who interpret the Koran to justify violence would convert to Catholicism, and artists who think they have an absolute right to insult people of faith would follow suit. If both did, we would have peace and civility."
Before we can have peace and civility, people will have to believe in tolerance for a wide range of opinions and religious beliefs, regardless of their own religions.
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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