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Calls for Bible Ban Under Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws

What can you say? The blasphemy laws in Pakistan are insane already, but this takes the biscuit. If it wasn't so fraught with hatred that frequently spills over into violence against the poor Christians living there, it would be laughable.

Pakistan’s Islamist party, Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islami (JUI), has petitioned to have the Bible banned from Pakistan because it violates the nation’s notorious blasphemy laws. The move by the JUI is just the latest episode in the ongoing and increasingly deadly persecution of Christians in that Islamic nation.

According to JUI leader Maulana Abdul Rauf Farooqi, the Bible contains passages that show biblical figures whom Muslims regard as prophets (such as Abraham and Solomon) to be engaging in “a variety of moral crimes.” As such, the JUI has called on Pakistan’s supreme court to have the entire Book banned from the country if the offending passages are not removed.

I suppose the fact that the Old Testament predates the Q'ran by about a thousand years is irrelevant to these dickheads.

(Interestingly, the JUI admitted that their petition was partly prompted by that Q'ran burning in Florida a few months back. With any luck, this will keep escalating until all the holy books in the world have been either banned or burned.)

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Tags: Bible, Christian, Islam, Muslim, Pakistan, blasphemy

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sandy on June 24, 2011 at 6:51pm

Oh, and in case you're interested in discovering what immoral crimes Abraham and Solomon are said to have committed, you'll have to look it up yourself - I can't be arsed. I bet it's pretty innocent stuff (unless you're a fundamentalist nutcase).

The offending verses are, apparently:

Genesis 19:33–36, 29: 23, 32–35, 38:18

Exodus 32:2–6

1 Kings 13:2–29

2 Samuel 11:2–27, 13:1–22

Matthew 1:13, 16:23, 26:14–47]

Permalink Reply by mike larson on June 24, 2011 at 6:55pm

I love the ending of your post! It says exactly what I beleive, have all religions attack each other as none listen to atheists. We are the only ethical, open minded people on the planet. If each religion squabbles with each other their incredible intolerance, bigotry, and totally insane beliefs can be viewed by all.

Permalink Reply by Grinning Cat on June 25, 2011 at 10:24am

I often recommend www.religioustolerance.org to believers (and non-), as a site that attempts to report fairly on different belief systems and their intersection with high-profile political and social issues. While not attacking people for their beliefs, the authors give no free passes for the harmful effects of actions motivated by religion. Things such as oppression of women, or special rights for heterosexuals, are called exactly that. Actions are judged by their objective effect on humans' freedom and well-being.

Permalink Reply by Mick Wright on June 26, 2011 at 4:46pm

Religions attacking each other is never a good idea. It's never the priests who do the fighting. Some of the older buildings in England, where religions *did* fight until a few centuries back, still have the spikes where they would display people's heads for owning Bibles in the wrong language.

Permalink Reply by Alice on June 24, 2011 at 6:56pm

I blame it on globalisation. They'll all need to converge into one religion that works for them all - with one holy book they can agree on. You'll always have your splinter groups though... :)

Permalink Reply by Grinning Cat on June 25, 2011 at 10:28am