Religious persecution is closer to home than most Americans realize

One with a fatwa on their back cannot live in peace, but can only rest in peace. This is the lesson to be drawn from the brutal attack on the internationally renowned writer Salman Rushdie.  

It was reported that the attacker was a lone wolf and not hired by any state.  

Nevertheless, was this an isolated incident? Not really. Salman Rushdie has been living with a sword over his head for over 33 years. His book “The Satanic Verses,” published in 1988 had made him a target. In 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of the Iranian regime issued a fatwa condemning Rushdie to death for alleged blasphemy.    

However, this is not exclusive to Iranian theocrats or even the wider Middle East. According to Pew Research, around 79 countries, 40 percent of all countries, have blasphemy laws. Countries such as Pakistan go to the extreme extent of slapping death sentences on those alleged to have blasphemed, such as in the case of Christian woman Asia Bibi. Initially, she found refuge in France and later permanent asylum in Canada.  

Most recently, Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor in Western India was brutally beheaded and the incident was broadcast live. The tailor had publicly voiced support for a leader in India who had made remarks about the Prophet Muhammad in response to comments about Hindu gods. This incident is similar to one in France where Samuel Paty, a high school teacher, was executed for allegedly commenting on the prophet. India and France do not have blasphemy or apostasy laws. Iran sends out agents or hires assassins to execute those who have allegedly blasphemed. However, nefarious elements like Rushdie’s lone wolf attacker also impose those laws and instill fear.    

There are also extremists closer to home. They may not be as violent as the Islamic theocrats mentioned, but it is certainly worth pondering how an America that has witnessed race-based slavery and racial violence has kept the lid on theocracy.  

That may not be for long.  

Historians often cite religious persecution in Europe as one of the major driving factors for Europeans to move across the Atlantic. Interestingly, the new denominations that came about on American soil continue to propagate even more hardline policies than the Christianity that exists today in Europe. This paradoxical state of affairs blurs the line between church and state by influencing and shaping several public policies, ranging from abortion rights to gay marriage. Commentators such as Sohrab Ahmari have been advocating for the U.S. to adopt a more traditionalist version of catholicism. 

While America is far from bringing in blasphemy and apostasy laws like the ones that exist in many (mostly Islamic) nations, it would not come as a surprise if conservative thought leaders and lawmakers within the Republican party propose such restrictions, not necessarily through legislation but through other means. The book bans in Florida and Texas are a case in point. For a group that rallies against the cancel culture of the left, conservatives have certainly pioneered “canceling” by banning novels, textbooks and other material that they deemed unsuitable.  

Moreover, this is part of a broader ecosystem that is in the works. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) comment, “I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian nationalists,” and  Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) saying she’s “tired” of the long-standing separation between church and state in the United States indicates that Christian nationalism has an interesting nexus with ethnonationalism.  

In 1990, Time magazine had a front cover warning of upcoming doom with the birth rates of whites going down and those of people of color on the rise. One point to note, Time was not a fringe outlet back then nor is it now. It is very much part of the establishment. Similarly, in 1975, former Lyndon B. Johnson speechwriter and demographer Ben Wattenberg sowed the seeds of this line of thinking with his book, “Birth Dearth.” Several writers since have used that as their ready reckoner to predict doom and gloom for Western civilization when they are actually using the “west” as a convenient euphemism to garner wider readership from another group that starts with the letter ‘w.’  

Since former president Donald Trump’s term in office, there have been several books on the decline of Western civilization and “Judeo-Christian values.” Douglas Murray’s “War on the West” and Jordon Peterson’s lectures, which are taken as sermons by his followers for the revival of Western civilization, are a noteworthy few.   

Given the worldwide rise in populism, it is not improbable that leaders and thought leaders seek to revive the infamous Samuel Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations” hypothesis and align themselves with nations and states that share religious or cultural values. In this hyper-theocratic global environment, it will be atheists that could become stateless and without representation.  

While states such as France still hold onto their tradition of Laïcité and stand by their secular tradition, even if it comes at a steep price such as threats to freedom and life — the Charlie Hebdo attacks and Samuel Paty are exceptions to the norm. Especially under President Emmanuel Macron, it has welcomed victims of blasphemy laws with open arms to the Elysee Palace offering moral and at times temporary refuge. 

In a study conducted by sociologists at the University of Minnesota,  it was found that atheists were the most disliked people in America. This is not surprising. When filmmakers decided to make a movie about the notorious atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, they appropriately titled it “The Most Hated Woman in America.”  

As time goes on, America will become even more culturally and ethnically diverse. Will religious diversity be part of that mix? Will it be home to nonbelievers and secularists? Or would they have to be closeted for their own safety? It will all depend on the action or inaction of the secularists.

Akhil Ramesh is a fellow with the Pacific Forum. He has worked with governments, risk consulting firms and think tanks in the United States and India. Follow him on Twitter: Akhil_oldsoul.