Good News for Pakistan's Christians After Deadliest Church Attack Ever

No more victims like Asia Bibi? Unexpected proposal could greatly reduce false accusations of blasphemy

As Christians throughout Pakistan demand more protection in the wake of a church suicide bombing that killed more than 80 worshipers, some good news has surfaced on the other main challenge facing the beleaguered community: false accusations of blasphemy against Islam.

Days after a Muslim gold scavenger slit a Christian competitor's throat for alleged blasphemy, an influential Islamic group has told Pakistan to change its laws to protect its citizens against rampant false accusations that afflict Muslims as well as Christians.

Boota Masih, a 58-year-old scavenger in Karachi, was killed by Muhammad Asif in the marketplace as spectators and police watched, reported Morning Star News. "Asif kept shouting that my father was an infidel and had spoken derogatory words against Muhammad [Islam's prophet] as he mercilessly stabbed him," said George Masih, the scavenger's son. Keep reading

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Christianity Today may be premature in characterizing this proposal as "good news" for Pakistan's beleaguered Christian community. Even if Pakistan adopted such a law, witnesses for the prosecution would be intimidated or otherwise pressured not to testify as happened in the case of the imam who planted religious texts in Rimsha Masih's bag . Pakistani Muslims are notorious for taking the law into their own hands and lynching those accused of blasphemy before they have been tried and found guilty. Those who have been exonerated at their trial have also been killed.