More Denunciations of Free Speech from the OIC

The OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference) is an organization that has repeatedly shown its utter contempt of freedom of speech. Over the last two years the OIC has used the Danish cartoon brouhaha as a reason for Western countries to restrict free speech when that speech involves Islam. So, it's no surprise that the OIC is announcing a Danish court ruling that upheld freedom of speech. Story from Reuters.

The High Court for western Denmark on Thursday rejected a suit against Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that first published cartoons of Islam's prophet, leading to deadly protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The court said the editors had not meant to depict Muslims as criminals or terrorists, the cartoons had not broken the law, and there was a relationship between acts of violence and Islam -- comments that provoked outcry among Muslim groups in Denmark.

"It is a known fact that acts of terror have been carried out in the name of Islam and it is not illegal to make satire out of this relationship," the court said.

The Saudi-based OIC, the largest grouping of Muslim countries, said the ruling could encourage "Islamophobia," a fear or dislike of Islam, which the group has identified as existing in the West.

"The Danish ruling came as a surprise to the OIC at a time when almost all Western governments including the USA had made categorical statements rejecting any linkage between Islam and terrorism," an OIC statement said.

"The linkage drawn by the Danish court ... could create a precedent for exacerbation of Islamophobia."

It's sad that the newspaper had to win a court battle over whether satire was allowed. But at least the court did it use its power to restrict freedom of speech. But that really isn't my point, I want to focus on the OIC.

What the OIC wants is quite simple: outlawing criticism of Islam. It's not that they don't understand freedom of speech, because they do. They understand it, and they despise it. They believe that people should not be able to form their own opinions, the OIC wants to form their opinions for them.

The position of the OIC is inherently insecure. They are broadcasting to the world that they do not believe that Islam can stand up to the rigors of free and open speech. They are afraid of competition, and therefore wish to outlaw that competition. If you view your belief system as strong you won't be worried about speech critical of your belief system. If you believe you are right you should believe that you have the ability to persuade others. If you don't believe you can persuade others to your belief system, does your belief system actually have any strength? I wouldn't think so.

I believe that people should be able to express obnoxious, unpopular, or contentious opinions about any religion. Free speech allows people to be stupid and it also allows people to be brilliant. The merits of an idea should be decided by individuals, not mandated by the government or international institutions. The state should be less intrusive in people's lives, not more so.