In Pakistan, a Muslim mob has killed a seven-year-old girl and her baby sister (as well as their grandmother) in the latest carnage to defend the faith from blasphemy. The cause of the outrage was a simple picture posted on Facebook that was deemed offensive to Islam. The mob accused members of the Ahmadi sect, who live under continual discrimination by the Pakistani government and the threat of death from Muslims over their faith.
The violence later on Sudnay in the town of Gujranwala, began when a Muslim man accused an Ahmadi man of posting “objectionable material.” The picture showed the Kaaba – the cube-shaped structure in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, but also showed a naked woman. That was enough for Muslims to not only file a blasphemy charge with the police but a mob to attack and burn down the homes of innocent Ahmadis. They ended up killing the girls, the grandmother, and causing another woman to miscarry her baby. Yet, such violence is viewed by these extremists to be the act of truly faithful Muslims and pleasing to God. It is such a disconnect with any form of recognizable morality that makes this crime so hard to even fathom.
I do not just blame the mob, however. I blame Pakistan for its codification of the prejudice against this sect and treating them as heretics. The country’s incorporation of religious tenets into the criminal code legitimates these acts of hatred. It is also another example of how there is no common ground over blasphemy.
For many years, I have been writing about the threat of an international blasphemy standard and the continuing rollback on free speech in the West. For recent columns, click here and here and here.
Much of this writing has focused on the effort of the Obama Administration to reach an accommodation with allies like Egypt and Pakistan to develop a standard for criminalizing anti-religious speech. We have been following the rise of anti-blasphemy laws around the world, including the increase in prosecutions in the West and the support of the Obama Administration for the prosecution of some anti-religious speech under the controversial Brandenburg standard.
These cases reflect the true purpose of blasphemy laws: to silence minority sects and religious critics in the name of a “true faith.” Fortunately the effort of Hillary Clinton and others in the Administration to reach a compromise on blasphemy failed, though there continue to be efforts to create an international standard.
Four years ago, Muslims killed 86 Ahmadis. A large crowd watched as the homes of Ahmadis were looted and then burned. In the meantime, according to the article below, blasphemy charges are soaring in Pakistan from just one in 2011 to at least 68 last year.
Source: Telegraph
Petulance and daddy issues don’t age well.
Gotta wonder about those who spend so much time here.
Darren, Great job. You are the MVP here. While there is much discord here, you are someone w/ virtually unanimous respect. Not just for your work ethic, but for your judicial temperament, on display last night.
so one one side we have muslims like the ones in Pakistan, and on the other side we have the muslims who are being slaughtered like this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyqWYz8oeoY
Darren is a good guy…. When I’m not disagreeing with him. 😉
Zoroaster bless and keep you too Johnny!
Your welcome Annie and God Bless!
John, yes some folks do NEED religion. Not me, no thanks, you folks can keep your Jesus and your belief system. I find prosthelitizing off putting. If I want help with any bitterness my childhood in a cult religion saddled me with, I’ll go see a shrink, thanks all the same Jesus folks.
Maybe because she believed you when you said it was enough to have, “your mind, your ability to reason and think, to problem solve, to care for others, etc etc etc.”; you know, being a rational human being.
Well, maybe some people really can’t police themselves; maybe they can’t “see the goodness in our own humanity”.
observing the exchanges between Darren and Annie, with popcorn and pepsi
Darren, respectfully, you are overstepping yourself here. I don’t appreciate you telling me how I could’ve responded to Carol.
I think that if I had suggested that Carol should seek comfort and help in Zoroaster, she may feel a bit put off. Why does Carol feel that she can recommend Jesus to me?
Annie, since same words can have different meanings, depending upon the context, the tone etc. it is hard for me to let myself feel insulted just by words, just like it is hard for me to believe that such words can never be insulting. World is full of people craving to engage in duplex transactions and we just need to process our encounters individually. But, hey what do I know, as I am still stunned that the guy with the psychological sophistication of our current president was not only elected twice by my fellow citizens, but has made me watch Fox News that I could not have even have thought about just a few years ago.
Darren, I have seen some comments from you that you “retrieved” a message at such and such time..what does that really mean, is this a moderated site or something, guess I am confused…
“What do I know” wrote:
Darren, I have seen some comments from you that you “retrieved” a message at such and such time..what does that really mean, is this a moderated site or something, guess I am confused…
~+~
WordPress, the service that powers this blog, has an anti-spam filter that does a decent job of trapping out the spam this and other sites receive. In fact, it is typical for it to trap four thousand a day. Occasionally the filtering process is a bit over-zealous and snags legitimate comments made by readers here.
When such a snag is made the misidentified comment is shunted in to “Spam” where those of us having Editor Permission are able to retrieve.
If you or someone writing on this blog have an article disappear on you, you can make another comment stating something to the effect of “Help, I lost a comment.” and one of us will then run a search for the article in “Spam” and retrieve it for you. Our comment indicates to the person and the other Editors we have retrieved the comment.
There is another aspect called moderation. There are for the most part two ways a comment will be flagged to the user as “Awaiting Moderation.”
1) The word contained a prohibited word; they are commonly known profanities.
2) The comment contains more than two hyperlinks. Only two are allowed per comment and if someone wants the readers to review more than one link this can be achieved by submitting additional comments with only two per additional.
We will sometimes correct 2) above for a new user who experiences this, but we seldom do for the profanity.
The Moderation tests have higher precedent over the spam check, if you are curious to the flow charting.
Hope this helps
Darren
Oh, and I might add these suggestions apply to comments posted that immediately disappear or the system displays the “awaiting moderation” cue. Comments that violate the Civility Rule can be deleted at a later time and our host has final say on that matter.
I think you are over-reacting to what she is saying.
Here is a breakdown of what she wrote:
I am a born again Christian who attends a fundamentalist Bible preaching Independent Baptist Church
Here she is identifying herself as being one who might have knowledge of these maters.
and I do not know ONE single solitary person who is in favor of “blasphemy laws ” or wants to establish a “theocracy”.
Here she declares that she does not want a theocracy as evidenced by those around her. In fact, she is agreeing with your position.
It is painful to us when our Lord is ridiculed and blasphemed, but we understand the ignorance that is behind this behavior because we’ve all been there.
She presents an alternative perspective on how blasphemy is hurtful to her but she understands some of what drives this.
I am sorry your childhood experience was so negative (I am uncomfortable with Pentecostalism myself),
She shows sympathy for the bad experiences you suffered as a child and offers some solidarity with your beliefs about the Pentecostal Church.
but perhaps you should try to let go of the bitterness in your heart.
A suggestion for you in how to feel better
Jesus really helps with that.
A suggestion on how in her religion, addressed a similar issue.
I might counter the suggestion of the Spaghetti Monster was to rather be dismissive of her religious beliefs and could actually be considered an insult in its self.
Carol was not trying to do anyone any harm by her writing. The polite response might have been bidding her thanks for her concern and letting the rest of it go.
Darren,
You’re right; Carol was demonstrating compassion which is representative of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Even those believing in the flying spaghetti monster would benefit from his teachings. They might even recognize the “goodness in our own humanity”; right before their eyes.
Very nice message Carol.
Darren, I don’t appreciate being preached to by Carol. Jesus is fine for her, for you or for anyone, but I don’t need to be told her God would help with an issue I may or may not have. It’s presumptuous and a bit arrogant and a bit pushy. What makes her think her God would be of comfort to me, to a Jew, to a Buddhist, a Muslim, an agnostic? Really, yes it is insulting.
Annie – you were offered comfort, you took offense.
I don’t see how Carol Frazier’s writing was insulting. She was offering what she held dear (her belief in Jesus) as a measure of support or comfort. There is no threat or insult in doing so. Some cultures say “Via con Dios” or “Bless you” after a sneeze. in conveying a pleasantry to another. That is the message even if the wording is different.
Carol, what if one doesn’t believe in a diety named Jesus? What would help Jewish, or Buddhist folks with negative emotions? Jesus is your religion’s God, don’t you think it is insulting for you to suggest to a non Christian that your personal God is the one to help them? Maybe I want Buddha to guide me, ever think of that? Or maybe the flying spaghetti monster.
Annie – I am a born again Christian who attends a fundamentalist Bible preaching Independent Baptist Church and I do not know ONE single solitary person who is in favor of “blasphemy laws ” or wants to establish a “theocracy”. It is painful to us when our Lord is ridiculed and blasphemed, but we understand the ignorance that is behind this behavior because we’ve all been there. I am sorry your childhood experience was so negative (I am uncomfortable with Pentecostalism myself), but perhaps you should try to let go of the bitterness in your heart. Jesus really helps with that.