International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, 4 Sep 2008

The Bush administration, European governments, and religious rights organizations are coalescing to defeat a UN General Assembly resolution that would demand respect for Islam in a preferential way and could be used to even justify persecution of other religious minorities.

The resolution, called "Combating Defamation of Religion," is sponsored by the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

The Bush administration and European governments warn that the resolution - which specifically mentions Islam but no other religions - is an Orwellian text that has been used to shut down free speech, according to The Washington Times.

The resolution "replaces the existing objective criterion of limitations on speech where there is an intent to incite hatred or violence against religious believers with a subjective criterion that considers whether the religion or it’s believers feel offended by the speech," said a brief by the European Center for Law and Justice.

The resolution would give global backing to the harsh blasphemy laws in countries such as Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan and Afghanistan, where Christians and others are often unfairly imprisoned for any criticism of Islam and the prophet Muhammad.

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