Why Blasphemy Laws Are Wrong

News reports tell us that Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, a Christian minister sentenced to death in Iran, has been released and acquitted of blasphemy. Advocates of human rights and religious liberty are rejoicing all over the globe. At such a time, it's worth Christians asking: just why are blasphemy laws wrong?

Now, obviously, as Christians we disagree with Islam and its teachings. And, obviously, we stand in solidarity with our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. But why would such laws against blasphemy not be appropriate in the reverse case. If a Christian majority existed in a country, with the will to enforce all the laws it could, would this country be justified in outlawing Islam or atheism or Wicca? Why not?

Fundamentally, this is because blasphemy laws and other uses of state power to enforce religious belief or worship are themselves a repudiation of the beliefs themselves. A religion that needs state power to enforce obedience to its beliefs is a religion that has lost confidence in the power of its Deity. Read more

The imposition and enforcement of sharia law with its harsh penalties for blasphemy, however, is a tenet of Islam. The House of Peace, as Muslims describe those parts of the world under the sway of Islam, is characterized by submission to Allah. This entails the imposition and enforcement of sharia law. Otherwise, such parts of the world are not truly yielded to God's will in Muslim thinking. Consequently, one of the first things that Muslims do, having conquered an area or otherwise come to occupy and dominate it, is to introduce sharia law. Muslims believe that once an area becomes a part of the House of Peace, it must never be relinquished. It must never be allowed to return to the House of War, as Muslims describe those parts of the world dominated by idolatry and false religion in their way of thinking. From their perspective Christian missionary activities represent a concerted effort to do just that.