Shahbaz Bhatti Strikes a Posthumous Blow Against Tyranny
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here. Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]
You might remember Shahbaz Bhatti. He was the Pakistani Catholic and cabinet member who was gunned down for opposing his nation’s blasphemy laws. Here’s video where he tells us he is ready to die for what he believed in.
Well, one time Martin Luther King reminded us that “God still has a way of wringing good out of evil. And history has proven over and over again that unmerited suffering is redemptive.” While his death has not yet torn down the blasphemy laws that encouraged his murderers to believe it is ever right to kill a man for what he believes, it is already believed that he has shamed much of the world away from support of such laws:
Infamous Anti-Blasphemy Resolution Doomed by Bhatti Assassination
March 17, 2011 4:12 P.M.
By Nina Shea
Since 1998, a U.N. resolution to universalize Islamic rules against blasphemy, introduced by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, has been annually adopted in the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, or both.
This year, however, this atrocious “Defamation of Religions” resolution appears to be a non-starter. A high-level State Department official has told me that the March 2 assassination of Pakistani minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, who had sought repeal of that country’s blasphemy law, has doomed the anti-blasphemy push in the Human Rights Council, now meeting in Geneva.
Apparently, neither Pakistan’s delegate — who frequently introduced the resolution in the past and was consistently one of its most enthusiastic supporters — nor any other OIC envoy will table it at the council’s current session.
As they say, read the whole thing. It’s not quite a new birth of freedom, but it’s a start.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
Aaron,
Another start of Freedom the UAE (4 to 5 Million barrels a day of Oil) a petition demanding free elections and a parliment with legilative powers has been handed to one of the Emirs
http://www.qatar-tribune.com/data/20110318/content.asp?section=gulf1_1
EricPWJohnson (477908) — 3/18/2011 @ 7:35 amCan one imagine the apoplectic fits of rage if the Pope asked for a Defamation of Religion Law?
Even if punishment were 1 minute of tickling with a feather …. the LEFT WOULD BE HOWLING!!!!!!!!!!
EU Nations would ban to throw the Pope out of Italy!
Muslims would be rioting!!!!! (oops they already are)
Chinese Government would scream.
Russian would cut off gas supplies to the Vatican!
But Muslims do it? Eh, why not.
Torquemada (2a42d3) — 3/18/2011 @ 7:40 amChinese government would scream.
Which is ironic since tey torture those who blaspheme against the religion known as the state.
DohBiden (984d23) — 3/18/2011 @ 7:49 amthey*
Sorry.
DohBiden (984d23) — 3/18/2011 @ 7:49 amThis is encouraging to hear, (we’ll take any sign of hope, no matter how little) and I hope his family finds some solace in it.
Have they ever awarded a Nobel Peace Prize posthumously?
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/18/2011 @ 8:17 amEmbarrassed? I tend to doubt it.
Strategic, more likely.
Bigfoot (8096f2) — 3/18/2011 @ 8:49 amMD,
never have, but its a religious issue and my distant relatives are more towards giving it to the guy that killed him
Nobel’s been a joke for decades now
EricPWJohnson (477908) — 3/18/2011 @ 9:25 amMD,
There are honors that Obama can give him, if he’s asked – mabe if you contact your representative a motion can be made
I hope he wont object
EricPWJohnson (477908) — 3/18/2011 @ 9:31 amNobel’s been a joke for decades now
Comment by EricPWJohnson
Overall I agree, but every so often they can make a mistake and give it to somebody worthy. There was a winner from Indonesia not too long ago that was supportive of Bush policy in Iraq- he said you actually had to stop bad guys from being bad.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/18/2011 @ 2:30 pmNo, and I think it’s against the rules for a Nobel to be awarded posthumously. The reason, or so I was told, is that the point to the award is to encourage further development by the individual or organization in its field. Being dead would make such development problematic.
Some chump (4c6c0c) — 3/18/2011 @ 3:10 pmThanks, some chump.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/18/2011 @ 4:23 pm