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What are they thinking?... Always two steps forward and one back on things affecting human right issues.
Is the UN endorsing Islam as an official religion?
UNITED NATIONS - Islamic countries Monday won United Nations backing for an anti-blasphemy measure Canada and other Western critics say risks being used to limit freedom of speech.
...
“It provides international cover for domestic anti-blasphemy laws, and there are a number of people who are in prison today because they have been accused of committing blasphemy,†said Bennett Graham, international program director with the Becket Fund, a think tank aimed at promoting religious liberty.
“Those arrests are made legitimate by the UN body’s (effective) stamp of approval.â€Â
This is pretty stupid, but AFAICT it's at least non-binding. One Canadian official gets it exactly right:
Canada rejects the basic premise that religions have rights; human rights belong to human beings,†said Catherine Loubier, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.
“The focus (here) should not be on protecting religions, but rather on protecting the rights of the adherents of religions, including of people belonging to religious minorities, or people who may choose to change their religion, or not to practice religion at all.â€Â
"You know, I have a great, wonderful, really original method of teaching antitrust law, and it kept 80 percent of the students awake. They learned things. It was fabulous." -- Justice Stephen Breyer
The world community should not suffer attitudes like those of some Muslims regarding their idols. No one has the right to not be mocked or parodied or even just represented.
Gotta say though, thank God I live in the United States--even if Samuel Alito gets to be here too.