Monday, August 8, 2011

Pakistan Plans to Ban the Bible

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. 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.

As patently unreasonable as the basis of this petition is, the Christian minority feels it might well succeed. As we mentioned in the last edition, the blasphemy law enjoys such fanatical support in Pakistan that a governor who suggested it could be polished or modernized was gruesomely assassinated – by his own security detail.

In reporting this story about the proposed Bible ban, Frontpagemag observes that over the years, “Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have proven to be a reliable legal cudgel with which to bankrupt, beat, jail and kill Christians.” See further details at http://frontpagemag.com/2011/06/14/banning-bibles/

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