Is Blasphemy Hate Speech?
Arguments that it is legitimate to make blasphemy a crime have, disturbingly, gathered increasing support, often on the grounds that it is a form of hate speech. But criminalization of blasphemy is a far greater threat to freedom of expression than are restrictions on hate speech.
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NEW YORK – The assassination of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province in Pakistan and an outspoken critic of religious extremism, has focused attention on his country’s draconian blasphemy law. Adopted in its present form by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq’s military dictatorship more than three decades ago, the blasphemy law imposes a mandatory death penalty on anyone convicted of insulting Islam.