Religious freedom and Islamic terrorism
Blasphemy laws are used to persecute critics of Islam in many Muslim countries, whether moderate Muslims, Christians or Jews, and to attack so-called “non-believers,” thus forming an impenetrable barrier to any form of acceptance of other religious beliefs and contributing to the growth of Islamic extremism. Ending these laws could set the stage for free expression of religious opinions in the Muslim world and help modernize Islamic societies.
Pope Francis greets Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar University, at a conference on international peace in Cairo April 28. The pope was making a two-day visit to Egypt. (Credit: Paul Haring/CNS.)
Ambassador Francis Rooney
May 17, 2017
Editor’s note: This is the second of two editorials on religious freedom Representative Francis Rooney has written for Crux.
As discussed in the first article in this series, The role of religious freedom today, free expression of religion can stabilize civil societies and has helped defeat extremist ideologies.
Currently, much of Islamic society is stuck in the past, and uses an extreme interpretation of the Koran to justify barriers to the free expression of religion, such as blasphemy laws, and for violent religious persecution.
Promoting religious freedom, including the values of free expression and dialogue, will help undermine these blasphemy laws, hopefully leading to their elimination, and will allow Muslim leaders to freely speak out to reform Islam from within.
Blasphemy laws are used to persecute critics of Islam, whether moderate Muslims, Christians or Jews, and to attack so-called “non-believers,” thus forming an impenetrable barrier to any form of acceptance of other religious beliefs and contributing to the growth of Islamic extremism.
https://cruxnow.com/commentary/2017/05/17/religious-freedom-islamic-terrorism/