Wherever these blasphemy laws are in place, people are persecuted and jailed for holding contrary negative views of Islam and of the political policies that enforce its supremacy.
The Dangers of Blasphemy Laws – The Situation In Bangladesh
We have written a lot here at ICLA about blasphemy laws and freedom of expression. We have focused a great deal on how the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) seeks to make Islamic blasphemy laws a permanent component of international law. UNHRC Resolution 14/18 that purports to be about religious freedom is really about its opposite – blasphemy.
The video below shows scenes from Dhaka in Bangladesh after Islamists demanded the death penalty for atheist bloggers who were deemed to have ‘insulted Islam’. That particular claim seems to be increasingly used around the world to terrorize non-Muslims as well as Muslims who the Islamists claim are not ‘pure’ enough. Such problems are caused by blasphemy laws. That such laws are actually encouraged by Western governments is a very depressing situation indeed.