Hanging On To Free Speech By Your Fingernails

On Friday Politico reported that Bill Killian, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, has suggested that some inflammatory material on Islam might run afoul of federal civil rights laws. That in itself is an interesting statement, but it gets even more interesting if you understand the Islamic definition of slander. According to Sharia Law, slander is any negative comment about Mohammad–it doesn’t matter if the statement is true or not.  If you say “Jesus is Lord,” that is considered slander because in Islam Mohammad is Lord.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has been pushing the United Nations for years to adopt a resolution that criminalizes free speech and institutes international blasphemy laws. (See Breitbart.com)  Pastor Saeed, an American citizen, has been sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran because of his Christian faith. Unless Americans stand up for their right to free speech, we could very easily lose that right. If you think that can’t happen here, remember that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who made the anti-Islamic video that was NOT responsible for the attack in Benghazi, is still in jail.

I am not saying that we should abuse our right to free speech. I do not support burning the Koran or unfairly criticizing anyone’s religion. I just don’t want to see a special set-aside that says criticizing Islam is not free speech and criticizing Christianity is. Free speech applies to everyone. When we introduced the concept of ‘hate speech,’ we opened a door that we may someday regret walking through. How about some good old-fashioned manners instead?

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