Communicating Arts - Main Web Site"Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write," wrote Voltaire himself in a letter to Monsieur le Riche, dated February 6, 1770." [1]
"Magisterial district judges are not required to be lawyers, but if they are not, they must complete an educational course and pass a qualifying examination before they can take office. They must also complete one week of continuing education each year in a program administered by the Minor Judiciary Education Board (http://www.mjeb.org). [2]
[3]
Listen carefully to Judge Mark W. Martin toward the end of the clip, and you will hear some fluffled confusion about rights, privileges, and responsibilities. This is the huge rock on which he has slipped:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." [4]
We may agree that while Ernest Perce V's costume and manner may have been provocative, as would have been that of the "Zombie Pope" marcher next to him -- and then who knows who else representing what in this parade -- the parade was legal and peacefully undertaken, every bit as much as the Selma to Montgomery marches of the Civil Rights Era that in weeks won protection by Federal forces against local political paramilitary junta, and every bit as legitimate under the constitutional rules as the post-WWII American Nazi Party's gambit to march through the Jewish enclave of Skokie, Illinois.
At the time of the proposed march in 1977, Skokie, a northern Chicago suburb, had a population of about 70,000 persons, 40,000 of whom were Jewish. Approximately 5,000 of the Jewish residents were survivors of the Holocaust. The residents of Skokie responded with shock and outrage. They sought a court order enjoining the march on the grounds that it would "incite or promote hatred against persons of Jewish faith or ancestry," that is was a "deliberate and willful attempt" to inflict severe emotional harm on the Jewish population in Skokie (and especially on the survivors of the Holocaust), and that it would incite an "uncontrollably" violent response and lead to serious "bloodshed." [5]
According to Geoffrey R. Stone, a professor of law at the University of Chicago, the courts confronted with the scenario as he described it (for the Huffington Post two years ago) came each separately to the same conclusions: "In the end, the Illinois Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court contributed to the conclusion that Skokie could not enjoin the Nazis from marching."
The freedom to agree with a dictator, flatter a doofus, tell the naked emperor his clothes look swell, praise where praise is not due, and, altogether, refrain from offending a perhaps tender or, alternatively, a feared tyrannical ear, is no freedom at all, but such may be the freedom Judge Martin's well-intentioned, perhaps pacifying remarks, would seem to encourage.
May assorted enemies curse me as a Jew, my neighbors as Christians, perhaps too (why should I doubt it?) my Muslim acquaintance (anywhere in the world), as any may: in the United States, as I have known it, we much embrace the right (not the privilege) to responsibly, honestly, and most sincerely curse the same (and mock the same in funny costumes) right back.
As individuals, we may get off track some, run off the rails, deviate our more than 1.5 points from the median, but that too contributes to the working magic of real freedom within a society the works out its problems with ideas, words, and a little theater in place of criminal cabal and maniacal gunfire.
In this particular instance,the ranks of American athiests, as estimated by their their portion among the nation's available religious affiliations, tell their success in both defending and promoting their preferred way. Most Americans neither endorse nor adopt their view [6]. However, I would contest the very same assert as their God-given or natural right for themelves and all humans that of speaking comically, earnestly, lawfully, responsibly,and freely on whatever subject concerns them.
Cited Reference
2. The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. "About the Courts".
3. YouTube poster "Hatohms." "Halloween Parade Story and Judge Mark Martin intervew on CNN at 5:48 p.m.
4. Wikipedia. "First Amendment to the United States Constitution."
5. Stone, Geoffrey R. "Remembering the Nazis in Skokie." Huffington Post, April 19, 2009.
6. Wikidpedia. "Demographics of Atheism."
A 2004 BBC poll showed the number of people in the US who don't believe in a god to be about 9%.[10] A 2008 Gallup poll showed that a smaller 6% of the US population believed that no god or universal spirit exists.[31] The most recent ARIS report, released March 9, 2009, found in 2008, 34.2 million Americans (15.0%) claim no religion, of which 1.6% explicitly describes itself as atheist (0.7%) or agnostic (0.9%), nearly double the previous 2001 ARIS survey figure of 0.9%.[32] The highest occurrence of "nones", according to the 2008 ARIS report, reside in Vermont, with 34% surveyed.[33]
The latest statistics show that a lack of religious identity increased in every US state between 1990 and 2008.[34] However less than 2% of the U.S. population describes itself as atheist.[35]
Other Reference
Lat, David. "The 'Zombie Mohammed' Judge: Let's Discuss. Above the Law, February 29, 2012.
Pennsylvania Nonbelievers: Atheists, agnostics, nontheists, humanists and freethinkers.
YouTube poster "TYT Network." "Muslim Attacks Atheist for Insulting Muhammad?" March 1, 2012.
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