Tolerance is not Compromising!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

TOLERANCE IS NOT COMPROMISING!

by Steve Fair     

     Blasphemy is defined as, “The act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk.”  Many counties, especially countries where Islam is the state religion, they regard blasphemy as a serious offense.  In Pakistan, for example, execution is the penalty for blasphemy. In fact, Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has called on the United Nations to adopt blasphemy laws outlawing criticism of religion worldwide. But those that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.  Ashraf should be investigating the impact of Pakistan’s blasphemy law in his own country.
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     Just recently, a 14-year-old mentally impaired Christian Pakistani girl, Rimsha Masih, was imprisoned after being accused by a Muslim cleric of burning pages of a children’s religious book. It turned out the cleric just wanted to drive Christians out of the village and  had ‘fabricated the evidence’- aka lied. The case became so notorious that the charges were eventually dropped. But not until about 600 of the girl’s friends and family who were professing Christians had to flee the village out of fear of repercussions.  It has been reported she is not going home for fear Islamic vigilantes would kill her.

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     In Egypt, the new president, Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, has instructed the Egypt ambassador in Washington to bring legal charges against the Calfornia filmmaker Nakoula Basseley for blasphemy.   Nakoula, is the the alleged director/producer of Innocence of Muslims and a convicted identity thieve felon.  Morsi and most Muslim leaders clearly have a limited understanding of free speech.

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     An exception is former Indonesian President and Muslim scholar, Abdurrahman Wahid aka Gus Dur.  Dur says that blasphemy laws “narrow the bounds of acceptable discourse in the Islamic world and prevent most Muslims from thinking ‘outside the box,’ not only about religion but also about vast spheres of life, literature, science, and culture in general.”  

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     In the United States, a person cannot be prosecuted for blasphemy because it would violate the first amendment to the Constitution- the right of free speech.  That was determined in a landmark Supreme Court decision from 1952- Burstyn, Inc. vs. Wilson.  
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     In the early 1950s, film distributor Joseph Burstyn appealed a blasphemy decision to the US Supreme Court over a short film called "The Miracle".The film’s plot centered around a man, "Saint Joseph" who impregnates a disturbed peasant who believes herself to be the Virgin Mary.
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     The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Burstyn’s favor.  Justice Clark said in the majority opinion, “The basic principles of freedom of speech and the press, like the First Amendment’s command, do not vary. Those principles, as they have frequently been enunciated by this Court, make freedom of expression the rule. There is no justification in this case for making an exception to that rule.”

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     Blasphemy laws have largely disappeared in America.  Currently only six states, including Oklahoma, have them on the books.

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      Oklahoma State Representative Randy Grau, (R-Edmond), plans to introduce a bill in the 2013 legislative session to repeal Oklahoma’s blasphemy law.  “Most Oklahomans would be surprised to find out that they could be charged with a crime for insulting a person’s religion,” Grau said. Grau reports the UN to establish a worldwide blasphemy law that would prohibit a person’s freedom to criticize or question another’s religion.  While I do not support the gratuitous disparagement of another’s religious views, I do believe it is necessary to stand up for free speech even when it is unpopular to do so,” said Grau.

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     Support for these U.N. ‘anti-hate speech’ blasphemy laws are coming from the Obama administration.  The President has expressed support for anti-blasphemy measures that are completely inconsistent with freedom of speech.  As recently as December 2011, the U.S. voted for a UN Resolution against ‘religious intolerance.’ The resolution condemned the stereotyping and stigmatization of people based on their religion. While this may sound fine on the surface, the resolution was presented by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, by countries where religions other than Islam are not tolerated.
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     D.A. Carson, a Baptist professor of New Testament, has written a book entitled, "The Intolerance of Tolerance," which addresses this issue very well.  In the book, Carson says, "Now, tolerance means that you must not say anybody is wrong.  That’s the one wrong thing  to say. But, now notice, under this view of tolerance, you are tolerant, not of individuals, you are tolerant of all positions. The tolerance is now directed toward all views that are articulated because you are not in a position to say that any view is wrong.  The one thing that is not tolerated is the view that this view of tolerance is wrong.  And thus you have the intolerance of tolerance." For a review on the book, go to http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2012/06/review-of-carsons-the-intolerance-of-tolerance/

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     In their 2012 annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom wrote; “Across much of the Middle East, Christian communities that have been a presence for nearly 20 centuries have experienced severe declines in population, aggravating their at-risk status in the region.” To read the entire report, go to http://www.uscirf.gov/images/Annual%20Report%20of%20USCIRF%202012%282%29.pdf. 

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     President Kennedy said, “Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.”