Pakistani politician calls on U.S. to ban blasphemy
Source: Public Radio International
In the wake of the video "Innocence of Muslims," protests have swept the Muslim world. While Pakistan came late to the protests, the country's Muslims and political leaders are calling on the U.S. to make such blasphemy illegal.
snip
But it’s not just Islamist extremists and radicals who are offended by the video. One of the groups marching to the US consulate in Karachi on Friday will be the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. The party is lead by Pakistani cricket legend Imran Khan, and boasts a significant following among the country’s Western educated upper class. Arif Alvi, the party’s Secretary General, said the western, Christian world should understand that Pakistanis, and Muslims in general, have a distinct way of thinking.
“You can’t come in to a society and say ‘this should be painful and this should not be painful.’ What is painful to us is painful to us. And we expect countries to recognize that,” Alvi said.
snip
“Its not good enough to say the U.S. government has nothing to do with it. I know they have nothing to do with it,” he said, “but it is their responsibility because a US citizen is involved in this. It has the responsibility to curb such actions and legislate in the U.S.”
Read more: http://www.pri.org/stories/politics-society/religion/pakistani-politician-calls-on-u-s-to-ban-blasphemy-11551.html
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MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)"there are limits to free speech, after all" 
Vincardog
(20,234 posts)outlaw blaspheming Mohammed couldn't they outlaw criticizing any of the RW's insane ideas?
Pterodactyl
(1,687 posts)Vincardog
(20,234 posts)correctly wanting us to die for their "religious war".
W was salivating at painting himself into the picture as pope in the religious war, OBL wanted us to attack Islam.
The Neo-Cons want us to get into a culture war with the muslims.
I don't want to spend our blood and treasure on any more illegal immoral wars.
ArcticFox
(1,249 posts)All that talk about banning of Sharia law was much ado about nothing.
Just amazing.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)
AlecBGreen
(3,874 posts)1st amendment > people's feelings. I empathize with the muslim world and I wish this had never happened but we cannot ever shackle the right to free speech. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights do not guarantee the freedom from being offended.
sdfernando
(4,917 posts)Mr. Alvi, are you not by demanding a ban on blasphemy doing exactly what you accuse the US of doing??
“You can’t come in to a society and say ‘this should be painful and this should not be painful.’ What is painful to us is painful to us. And we expect countries to recognize that,” Alvi said.
I find that banning blasphemy in MY country to be painful...and furthermore....it is not good enough to say the Pakistani government has nothing to do with it. I know they have nothing to do with it, but it is their responsibility because a Pakistani citizen is involved in this. It has the responsibility to curb such actions and legislate in Pakistan.
See how that works??
glacierbay
(2,477 posts)like that's going to happen. 
They quite obviously have no idea of how our country works. We have rights and those rights are restrictions on the govt., not the citizens so them thinking that the govt. can ban blasphemy is ridiculous.
louis-t
(23,262 posts)de-sensitize Muslims with these actions. I don't think it will work, but I wish there was a clause in the Koran that suggested "turning the other cheek".
Bosonic
(3,746 posts)Defamation of religion is an issue that has been repeatedly addressed by some member states of the United Nations (UN) since 1999. Several non-binding resolutions have been voted on and accepted by the UN condemning "defamation of religion." The motions, sponsored on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference,[1] aim to prohibit expression that would "fuel discrimination, extremism and misperception leading to polarization and fragmentation with dangerous unintended and unforeseen consequences." Religious groups, human rights activists, free-speech activists, and several countries in the West have condemned the resolutions arguing it amounts to an international blasphemy law.[2] Critics of the resolutions including human rights groups argue that they are used to politically strengthen domestic anti-blasphemy and religious defamation laws, which are used to imprison journalists, students and other peaceful political dissidents...
Ilsa
(61,687 posts)Listen to blasphemy that originates in the US.
And that is all you have the right to in this case.
Jessy169
(602 posts)The people in the Middle East are impoverished, as much by their own dysfunctional forms of government as they are by the western capitalist powers that have been exploiting them for centuries. Those people are poor, destitute and have no hope. ALL they have is their religion and their beliefs. There are plenty of people in America who want to pepper these poor people with good ol' hefty doses of American hate speech. I would prefer to just let them live their lives without having to deal with the hate and obnoxious insults that America generates 24/7. I don't think that those people are in any way benefited by the hefty helpings of hate and slander that Americans send their way, it just makes the world hate us more, puts us all in more danger by inspiring hatred and motivations of revenge in people who have nothing to lose. If America could figure out a way to contain it's often obnoxious brand of "free speech" within it's own borders, everybody would benefit.
glacierbay
(2,477 posts)What with the Internet and all. What is your solution, other than banning hate speech which can't be done?
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)Having to riot and protest the film because all they have is "their religion and their beliefs"....
Oh wait....
fujiyama
(15,185 posts)Half of what's on the internet is offensive to someone or the other...
elleng
(130,646 posts)to try to understand
http://news.yahoo.com/multiple-personalities-muslim-rage-194454551.html
socialindependocrat
(1,372 posts)We stop blasphemeing
and
They circumsize themselves.
What I am trying to say is: I don't expect to be forced to live by someone elses religious rules.
When in Rome: When I'm in the middleeast I won't talk about "him"
For any country to allow murder because some religion says it's o.k.
- that isn't o.k.
I live in the United States and I eat pork
DO the Jews get upset - I think not
There are some intrusive rules being bantered around here.
This is a problem
muriel_volestrangler
(101,258 posts)because male circumcision is normal practice in Islam.
socialindependocrat
(1,372 posts)What I was thinking was if they expect someone outside the Muslim reigion
to follow one of their beliefs then they would have to follow a belief of
another religion in trade.
Oh well, it's a stupid idea.
The point is that we all follow our own religious beliefs and to expect other people
who are outside your religion to follow one of your religious beliefs is expecting
a little too much.
Thanks for the correction...
muriel_volestrangler
(101,258 posts)should be banned. Islamic nations have been sponsoring a United Nations resolution to outlaw "defamation of religion" for some years now - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_and_the_United_Nations .
Ireland, controversially, introduced a law against "matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion" in 2009. I think he wants the USA to introduce a law like that, though it would, I think everyone agrees, be unconstitutional.
socialindependocrat
(1,372 posts)many people in the past have been put to death for blasphemy
based on someone's opinion or desire to eliminate opposition.
Martin Luther could have lost his life or freedom for breaking away
from the Catholic church,
The freedom to disagree and start a new religion is basic religious evolution
but could be considered blasphemy.
Who's to say when the line is crossed and who meters out the punishment.
I was talking to a friend from California tonight who said in Cal. people are afraid
to make a statement about anything for fear that they will offend someone and brought
to task. It's a scary way to live, always thinking that you can be ridiculed or punished
for stating a belief or talking about anything - not controversial - just anything.
One of the things I learned here on DU is you develop a thick skin or you get beaten up.
To make a poorly worded statement and stand corrected is part of the learning process.
Putting out a contract to have someone killed is illegal. Saying that someone should be killed because they insult your religious leader is similar.
Thanks again for doing all that work to provide me with the links. I appreciate your efforts.
As Wikipedia says, there is a large bloc for and a large bloc against - as so the discussion goes on.
We also have the tea party and the progressives - and so similar discussions continue.
I go back to my belief that we should be free to choose and when one group tries to force
the other group to follow their beliefs then they are overstepping the bounds.
Look at all the things that people have been called to task for in the past: alcohol, swearing,
dancing, "witchcraft" damned if you do and damned of you don't . It all seems to get bleached
away as time goes on and morals evolve...
Whatever. The discussion continues.
Grave Grumbler
(160 posts)"Of all the strange crimes that humanity has legislated out of nothing, blasphemy is the most amazing - with obscenity and indecent exposure fighting it out for second and third place." (---Robert A. Heinlein, Notebooks of Lazarus Long)
msongs
(67,336 posts)Edweird
(8,570 posts)You're just gonna have to put your big boy underoos on and develop some coping skills to learn to deal with the fact that not everyone believes what you do and will not be cowed by bullies.
JRLeft
(7,010 posts)or say about him should matter.
Its not that easy.
trouble.smith
(374 posts)
mwooldri
(10,299 posts)The easy bits of legislation or the hard parts?
Easy would be to defund any projects going to Pakistan, and easy to label Pakistan as a new country in the Axis of Evil. Easy would be to find the people who created this "video" and put them up for shame, or to let an Ayatollah issue a fatwa on the people who made, distributed or even in the "video".
Hard would be to reverse the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)
defacto7
(13,485 posts)The complete answer to this statement is too complicated to put here in it's entirety. To explain freedom of speech and democracy to radical Islam is beyond the scope of this site, but I'll give it a try if you all will have patience with me....... Here goes...
No.
treestar
(82,383 posts)We have freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
november3rd
(1,113 posts)It's better to tolerate a few insults and let everybody have free expression than it is to have everybody say what the rulers want to hear and expend a lot of force keeping everybody in line.
zellie
(437 posts)I can't wait
jsr
(7,712 posts)Sir Idiot.
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)...non-reading DUers go ape-shit. News at 11
BTW while very few countries have blasphemy laws, thankfully, almost every first world country has laws against hate speech.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech
Except the US because, you know, those people should be glad we even finally let them vote.
fujiyama
(15,185 posts)
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)I am sorry you are offended at that video. Quite frankly, so am I.
Nevertheless, I believe in free speech. I don't want my government wasting the tax money that I apy determining what is is and isn't all right to say. If some one such as Rev. Terry Jones or the mysterious Sam Bacile wants to blaspheme, we let him. That's free speech. And then we call the blaspheme crude and rude and worse. That's free speech, too.
I really don't think a small mind like that of Terry Jones is worth the attention it gets. He is consumed with his petty hatred and, one might suppose, is now and will forever be separated from the God he worships. Let's leave it at that.
Pterodactyl
(1,687 posts)...up Mohammed's wazoo.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)Great Britain knighted Salman Rushdie.
