Angry in the Great White North

From newKerala (via Michelle Malkin):

The European Union may try to draw up a media code of conduct to avoid a repeat of the furore caused by the publication across Europe of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, an EU commissioner said today.

In an interview with Britain's Daily Telegraph, EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said the charter would encourage the media to show ''prudence'' when covering religion.

The code would have no actual legal teeth, nor would it make special mention of Islam but just of respecting religious sensibilities only.

So you might think this is an even-handed attempt to deal with the issue. You would be wrong.

No mention of Islam might be made anywhere in a dozen pages translated in a dozen languages, but it would still be about Islam.

Here's why.

Look who is suggesting this charter. The Commissioner of Justice.

So why does this matter? Why does this make this about Islam, and not about respecting all religions?

Because of the three Abrahamic religions, Islam is the one about justice. Christianity is about truth.

Christianity has always made a distinction between Church and State. There is no definition of the ideal earthly state as such. There are general descriptions about the responsibility between ruler and ruled, but even then the advice is non-specific and mostly common sense.

Christianity praises the poor, the meek. Why? Why doesn't it demand that the poor and the meek be raised up, if they are so favoured? Because that there are people who are less fortunate is one of those less fortunate truths. You can try to alleviate the suffering of others, and for that you might earn forgiveness for some of your sins, but rich and poor, we will all stand in judgment.

Does Christianity demand abject subjugation? No. Christians can leave the Church, sin, and yet, if they are truly repentant, they can return, as the Prodigal Son did. Like the Prodigal Son, the truly repentant will enjoy the same reward as the unfailingly faithful. Is that fair? Is that just? No. But it is a truth that the love of God knows no bounds.

It is a truth that people will fail to live a good life. And that they can feel remorse.

Islam has a different focus. Islam focuses on justice. Its members must submit to Allah's will, because it is the way it should be. Can a Muslim leave the faith? No, and a violent justice will be visited, because of the affront such an act visits upon Allah. Such an insult must exact a payment to balance the scales of justice. Insult Allah or his Prophet, and his followers will extract a price.

Islam provides an entire blueprint for a just society -- meaning justice for believers, of course. Whether it means favouring the evidence provided by a Muslim over that of a non-Muslim in an Islamic court, or asymmetric taxation, or severely curtailed ability to exercise non-Muslim religions -- the Muslim works to order the world according to Allah's wishes.

Of course, Christians do the same, trying to change the world (though the Christian plan is different). But whereas Christians do not expect to succeed but to keep trying, because the truth is that life is not fair, the Muslim accepts nothing less than absolute success, because justice demands that that which is wrong be set right at any cost.

So I am not at all surprised to see the Commissioner of Justice suggesting a code to limit the ability to mock Islam. Why? Because while the truth is that there are people for whom nothing is sacred and who will mock anything, justice demands that those people be silenced. A law that forbids the mocking of religion fulfills the desires of Muslims only.

Does that mean the idea is a bad one? Not necessarily. But to be honest, people should understand that this law satisfies Islamic sensibilities only.