Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 119
Rushdie: Haunted By His Unholy Ghosts 119 from religion has contributed to blasphemy being classed as out- dated and out of fashion. But when in countries and faiths where religion still holds centre stage and the subject of blasphemy is taken most seriously, why then do Western commentators cast aspersions on their beliefs and laws no matter how futile and cruel they may seem. Take for example the case of two Pakistani Christians sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan in February 1995. This created sensational headline news world-wide and gave another opportu- nity for the Western media to associate Islam with barbarity and inhumanity. Bernard Levin of The Times, wrote a most damaging article regarding the incident entitled shockingly : Death for graffiti - Is Islam so fragile a religion that it must kill children for imaginary slurs ? It is little short of utterly amazing that an influential newspaper like The Times can let one of their journalists write such injurious and detrimental material that would have done nothing to improve East/West relations. Comments like : ‘I know of no other religion that fears to put itself into the challenge, and it is ironic that the re- ligion which seems to be the most fragile is. . by far the most cruel, violent and mad. ’ And it ends with a contemptuous warning that ‘there will be a revulsion against Pakistan so deep, so long-lasting and so conclusive that the mere name of their country will hardly be heard without being accompanied by a spit. ’ (The Times, 17 February 1995). No thanks to journalists like Bernard Levin, the ‘revulsion’ against Pakistan and against Islam in particular, has been an on- going process and present-day commentators are just adding more fuel to an already smouldering fire. ISL A M IC T E AC H I NG ON BL A SPH E M Y The Rushdie affair has indeed raised some fundamental issues regarding the moral crimes of blasphemy, apostasy and heresy. The prevalent conception in the West about Islam is of a narrow-minded,