AOF Activities & Events

Secularists and freethinkers worldwide celebrate International Blasphemy Day or "Blasphemy Rights Day" to mark the anniversary of when images of Muhammad appeared in the Denmark newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005. Conservative Muslims reacted to the drawings with worldwide protests, riots, embassy burnings and death threats.

Formally founded in 2009 by Ronald Lindsay, Directory of the Center of Inquiry in Ahmherst, New York, and promoted by the Campaign for Free Expression, this secular holiday now stands as a platform for individuals freely to express criticisms of religion and religious establishments. As Ronald Lindsay said in a television interview: "... religious beliefs should be subject to examination and criticism just as political beliefs are, but we have a taboo on religion."

"... we're against restrictions on speech based purely on the possibility that some people might be offended," he also said; "Because if you go down that path there's no end to it."

Participants have celebrated Blasphemy Day in various ways: with speeches, art exhibitions, feasts, poetry, music and song, and by taking the Blasphemy Challenge. Use your imagination.

Unlike most holidays, this one even has its own Facebook page. Visit it here.