Atheist group changes name of its blasphemy day

AMHERST, N.Y. — The Amherst, N.Y.-based Center for Inquiry (CFI) has changed the name of its International Blasphemy Day to International Blasphemy Rights Day in a bid to show that organizers are not interested in “mocking religion” for its own sake. CFI representatives said the name change better describes the purpose of the event amid criticism received after last year’s inaugural events. “The name change is meant to emphasize the important connection that we think there is between blasphemy and the right to free speech,” said Ronald Lindsay, president and CEO of CFI.

Lindsay said some critics “interpreted blasphemy in its crudest form” but “blasphemy is a wider concept than that.” Although many people scoffed at last year’s campaign, he said, the center believes religion is not, and should not be, immune from criticism. “Religious beliefs should be on the same level of political beliefs,” Lindsay said. This year’s events are scheduled for Sept. 30, the fifth anniversary of the publication of 12 cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper.