Atheists Banned from Holy Thursday Protest

In Madrid, Spain, atheists have been banned from holding a protest in defense of secularism and church/state separation on Holy Thursday. The government admits that such a protest would be completely legal, but they are banning it anyway because it would constitute "provocation."

They admitted that calling the demonstration is legal, but say that security concerns must take priority.

'The atheists were planning their protest on a day of special significance for the Catholics, at the same place and time that they will be celebration diverse religious acts, which shows an evident wish of provocation', said the Delegation statement.

Source: Typically Spanish

Excuse me, but isn't it inherent in the nature of a protests that there is "provocation"? Can anyone cite any protest that doesn't provoke someone about something? If an "evident wish of provocation" is an acceptable standard for denying people a right to protest, then basically any protest can be banned.

Actually, it's clear that every protest would have to be banned, at least if that standard were held to strictly. It's also clear that this will never happen, which means that the standard will never be adhered to strictly and will only ever be applied in an arbitrary manner.

The only protests that are banned because of "provocation" will be those which are provocative to a degree or in a way which the relevant government authorities don't happen to like. This means that protests by minorities and on behalf of unpopular viewpoints will always be at greater risk of censorship than those from majorities.

The only way that this decision has a chance of be justified is if the authorities are worried about violent reactions from Catholics. The government does have an obligation to keep the peace, after all. But there are serious problems if the government uses this line of argument.

First, it means asserting that Catholics are a violent group who cannot be trusted. After all, they aren't being prevented from having demonstrations or processions out of fear of violent atheist reactions. Does the Spanish government really want to adopt as an official position that Spanish Catholics are violent and untrustworthy?

Second, and far more serious, such an argument basically sends the message that anyone will be banned from holding public protests or demonstrations so long as opponents can plausibly threaten to be violent enough in their reactions. It's not those threatening violence who will be restrained, it's those who are targeted by threats of violence who have their liberties restrained.

This hands public spaces over to the most violent and bullying groups because peaceful groups will be suppressed by the government. Keeping the peace may be an important government function, but not if it means giving veto powers to the most violent bullies in society.