Our country was founded on freedom of speech and freedom from religious imposition. And yet, there are still people like Jennifer Graham (“Blasphemy is the new ‘wow,’ ” Op-ed, Oct. 21) who feel justified in trying to impose their religious reverence upon those who do not share their beliefs.
Blasphemy is, at best, a contrived religious offense using fear to maintain control over the flock and, at worst, an excuse to condone violence against nonbelievers. History is replete with examples on this point.
As a nonbeliever, I use the term “oh my God” when referring to something unbelievable. It makes perfect logical sense in my secular world-view because its use never has slanderous intent. Furthermore, I have created a superb moral life without any gods or Bronze Age religions. I therefore strongly oppose anyone who advocates any physically abusive act — even something as seemingly benign as washing out one’s mouth with soap — merely because it upsets their hyper-sensitive religious disposition. It is the intent of violence, not the mere nature of it, which is abhorrent and immoral.
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Graham’s insistence that her religious blasphemy problem, and our lack of “reverence and restraint,” must become my secular problem is the kind of dogmatic rhetoric I would expect in the Tehran Times. In our free society, mutual respect is a two-way street on which Graham seems to prefer a one-way sign, pointing only in her direction.