This they are said to have done by briefly dancing at thefront of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior and splicing footage of theirdance into a video critical of President Vladimir Putin. A few days after theirconviction, police in Pakistan arrested Rimsha Masih, an 11-year-old Christiangirl reported to have Down Syndrome, on charges of blasphemy for purportedlyburning pages of the Koran. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.
In different ways, both these cases raise the question ofwhether blasphemy should be punishable by law, as it may be in more than 30historically Christian and Muslim countries, from Poland, Greece and Australiato Indonesia and Pakistan. As a Christian clergywoman and director of anorganisation that works with religious leaders from different traditions, Iwould argue that while the pain caused to believers by the defilement ofcherished religious symbols and teachings is real and traumatic, laws thatcriminalise “defamation” of religion or inciting religious hatred aredoctrinally unsound and legally dangerous. From a Christian perspective,blasphemy laws make bad theology. The basic Christian tenet that all humanbeings are made in the image of God is undermined by laws against blasphemy andheresy, and especially by their gender-biased application.
Increasingly, Muslim leaders are arguing that blasphemy lawsas currently applied are un-Islamic as well. In a foreword to a recentlyreleased book, “Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking FreedomWorldwide,” Abdurrahman Wahid, the late president of Indonesia and a strongadvocate for interfaith dialogue, wrote, “Nothing could possibly threaten Godwho is Omnipotent and existing as absolute and eternal truth. ... Those whoclaim to defend God, Islam, or the Prophet are thus either deluding themselvesor manipulating religion for their own mundane and political purposes.”
Beyond bad doctrine, blasphemy codes can be legallydangerous. A 2012 report by Human Rights First “ “Blasphemy Laws Exposed: TheConsequences of Criminalising 'Defamation of Religions”' “ outlines severaltypes of problems with the application of blasphemy laws worldwide. In additionto stifling dissent and discussion in the public sphere, such laws can actuallyspark assaults, murders and mob outbreaks.
In Pakistan, for example, many relatives of Rimsha Masihhave fled in fear of Muslim mobs, and Interior Minister officials have urgedthe Islamabad police to keep the girl in custody for her own safety. AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini’s 1989 fatwa calling for Salman Rushdie’s death for hisportrayal of the Prophet Muhammad in “The Satanic Verses” led to the murder ofthe book’s Japanese translator and near fatal attacks on its Norwegianpublisher and Italian translator, as well as the deaths of 12 people in riotingin Mumbai.
Far from protecting religious sensibilities, blasphemy lawsare a major source of prejudice and violence against religious minorities, aswell as of violations of their religious freedoms. The vague language of manyblasphemy laws has also led to their misuse as weapons to settle privatedisputes. The antidote to blasphemy is not blunt and counterproductive law butefforts by civil society “ specifically political and religious leaderscooperating across religious and ideological lines “ to condemn any curtailingof religious rights or speech that incites violence.
We saw this working in New York City when Jewish, Christian,Muslim and other religious leaders stood with the mayor in August 2010 insupport of Muslim leaders who wanted to build an Islamic center near the WorldTrade Center site.
We are seeing it now as the All Pakistan Ulema Council, anumbrella group of Muslim clerics and scholars, joins with the PakistanInterfaith League, which includes Christians, Sikhs and members of otherreligions, to support Rimsha Masih and to call for an end to the “climate offear” created by “spurious allegations.” These are small but important stepsfor which the faithful can give thanks.
The Rev Chloe Breyer is executive director ofthe Interfaith Center of New York and an associate priest at St Mary'sEpiscopal Church in West Harlem, NY
