Put The Scimitar Down

It seems that a number of people who combine the virtues of wooly-headed internationalist thinking and hypersensitivity to criticism of religion have managed to come up with a hybrid of their two intellectual vices: they would have the United Nations enact a law justifying national laws against “defamation of religion” because it really, really hurts their feelings when someone does things which, if they had been done by a Muslim, would constitute blasphemy. Things like publishing the “Mohammed cartoons.” I presume this would also include books like The God Delusion.

To the advocates (almost all of them devout Muslims) of this proposal, I say, read Sura 2:256: “There is no compulsion in religion.” Because you seem to prefer Sura 9:73 (“Struggle against the unbelievers and hypocrites and be harsh with them!”) when you insist on special pleading for yourself and your sensibilities. There is nothing special about Islam. It is a religion like any other. It is worthy of respect on the same grounds as any other person’s religion. It is not worthy of special protection, particularly by people who do not believe in it. If I do not believe in your religion, that’s none of your business.

Alas, “none of your business” is not a concept that is understood by fanatics, of any denomination or type.