Kebebasan yang Dipasung

BBC News edisi Selasa, 11 Maret 2010 yang bertajuk “Swedish Prophet Muhammad cartoonist ‘head-butted’” melaporkan serangan yang dilakukan seorang Muslim fundamentalis terhadap Lars Vilks (kartun Nabi Muhammad buatannya dimuat dalam salah satu koran di Denmark).

“A Swedish artist who created an international furore by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was assaulted as he delivered a university lecture.”

Lars Vilks says he was head-butted by an audience member as he spoke about the limits of artistic freedom. The cartoonist's glasses were broken, but he was not injured. Mr Vilks has been threatened on numerous occasions, but the assault at Uppsala University was the first time he has been physically attacked.

The artist said a group of about 15 people had been shouting and trying to interrupt the lecture, which was attended by about 250 people. "A man ran up and threw himself over me. I was head-butted and my glasses were broken," Mr Vilks was quoted as saying by the AP news agency.

A video clip of the attack was posted on the website of a Swedish newspaper. It showed police using pepper spray and batons to control an angry crowd shouting "God is great" in Arabic as Mr Vilks was led away. Two people were detained.

Earlier this year, Mr Vilks was the target of an alleged murder plot involving Colleen LaRose, an American who called herself "Jihad Jane". She has pleaded not guilty, but faces life in prison if convicted.

In 2007, a group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq offered a $100,000 (£66,000) reward for killing Mr Vilks, and a 50% bonus if he was "slaughtered like a lamb" by having his throat cut.

The Vilks cartoon was published about a year-and-a-half after a series of depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten paper caused protests by Muslims around the world.

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Berita di atas kembali menunjukkan betapa cara beragama yang sangat dangkal dan sempit (fundamentalis) mampu mendorong orang yang menganutnya bersikap penuh emosi dan sama sekali tidak dilandaskan pada akal sehat. Jangankan akal sehat, kepedulian terhadap hak-hak kemanusiaan pun menjadi tersisihkan/terabaikan.Ketika agama dipeluk secara membabi-buta, maka seseorang tidak segan-segan bertindak sangat keras terhadap sesamanya, bahkan tidak peduli jika ia harus membunuh orang lain. Ini semua dilakukan karena orang tersebut (kelompok tertentu) merasa agama atau kepercayaannya telah dihina orang lain. Bahkan orang (kelompok tertentu) tidak peduli jika harus “mengorbankan” uang yang banyak bahkan nyawanya sendiri demi mencapai tujuannya. Apakah tujuan yang hendak dicapai? Membela “kehormatan” agamanya (diri dan kelompok) dengan cara membunuh.

Pasti ada dasar tertentu atau latar belakang sehingga orang-orang yang beragama secara fundamentalis melakukan hal-hal kejam seperti itu. Apakah dasar sehingga orang-orang yang beragama secara sempit dan dangkal melakukan hal kejam tersebut? (Tidak bisa dikatakan hina karena mereka tidak menganggap perbuatannya itu hina, tetapi dianggap sebagai sesuatu yang terhomat dan terpuji.) Saya tidak tahu. Mungkin teman-teman yang membaca tulisan ini bisa membantu dengan menjawab pertanyaan tersebut.

Setelah kebebasan mengutarakan pendapat dan berekspresi dibatasi, bahkan dipasung, maka jangan kaget atau heran jika suatu saat nanti kebebasan berpikir pun dipasung. Ini bisa terjadi akibat cara beragama manusia yang sempit dan dangkal.