Religious Boundaries to the Freedom of Speech in the Age of New ...

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The world has changed significantly over the last decade. Technological advances in the field of the media have made it possible to really view the world as a global village. This global village called the world wide web, like any young nation, has its issues. It has given a voice to the voiceless, which can be heard and read on millions of websites and blogs daily. One needs to shed a positive light on this and see that this means that many people can now define themselves. However, the hoped for democratic revolution of Internet has not taken place. In many instances defining the ‘other’ is still prevalent and has led to social tension. Unfortunately, in a great number of instances the voiceless have become the faceless, and it is this anonymity which has partially led to the amount of offence at the address of religion in a rapidly secularising Europe. Dutch law is very clear: When it comes to taking offence, one should be resilient, even when it comes to religion. The public prosecutor has treaded lightly and has only in a rare occasion prosecuted someone for crossing the line when it comes to offending people regarding their religious beliefs. In the recent hate mongering case against Muslims of Dutch MP Geert Wilders the public prosecutor even demanded full acquittal.(22) Apart from the legal side of the debate regarding religious boundaries to freedom of speech we also have moral boundaries to take into consideration which are systematically crossed in this instance. Van Stokkum (2009) argues that the intolerance towards Muslims in both the media and the public debate stem from radical secular concepts and that the expression of these concepts are seen as less problematic than intolerance towards other minority groups and religions.(23) It is very unsatisfactory for Muslims to ascertain the fact that from a juridical perspective not much can be done to stop the continuous flow of negativity surrounding their religion and Islamic Identity. It is because of this that many Muslims feel pressured by Dutch society and insulted. However, the fact that cases against Hirsi Ali (2005) and Wilders (2011) went to court gave Muslims the opportunity to clearly expound on why things said in the media by both politicians and their adherents were perceived as being hurtful to the community, which provided the debate with a new angle from an ethical approach. It seems that the laws regarding freedom of speech and religious boundaries have not taken the zeitgeist of today’s world into account properly, and are therefore sometimes seen as unjust and 11
arbitrary. It is too easy to state something in a blog-post or on twitter and simply hide behind freedom of speech, for a debate needs to be open, respectful and honourable. Muslims are commanded to do so through the following Qoer’anic injunction: “Invite to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and fair admonition; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious” (24). It is precisely these above mentioned three adjectives which are more often than not absent in the debate on Islam in the media. Interestingly enough European law places the right to shock, disturb and offend over the ethical boundaries needed to engage in a debate, and by doing this showing that the ethics of a debate and law are not complementary in the case of the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech from a law perspective. This very incompatibility between ethics and law will lead to numerous new skirmishes on the religious boundaries of the freedom of speech. Roerdam, 2 December 2011 Footnote: (1) Qoer'an 33 : 21 (2) Evers, H. Media, Extremisme en de grenzen van de uitingsvrijheid, in Media Ethiek, p. 139- 152 (Groningen: The Netherlands) 2007. (3) Qoer'an 6 : 108 (4) Qoer'an 9 : 71 (5) European Court of Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights, http://www.echr.coe.int Last accessed 03/10/2011. (6) European Convention on Human Rights (7) Murdered Cineaste Theo van Gogh’s parents stated the same thing during his funeral in 2004. (8) Qoer'an 5 : 8 (9) Van Het Reve trial 1967 (10) The Goeree family trial 1989. Hermans, L Pleijter, A Tebbe, F. Nieuwe journalisten door nieuwe bronnen, (Rotterdam: The Netherlands) 2002. (11) Shadid, W. Moslims in de Media: De Mythe van de registrerende journalistiek, in Mist in de Polder (ed: Vellenga, S et al) p.173-193 (Amsterdam:The Netherlands) 2009. 12
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