Congressman Comes to Aid of Quran

Responding to the Middle East riots allegedly sparked by the retracted Newsweek Quran-in-toilet story, Democratic Rep. John Conyers Jr. has proposed a congressional resolution that condemns defamation of Islam’s book.

According to Conyers’ weblog, the resolution was drafted to “oppose religious intolerance.”

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The House of Representatives, therefore, according to the text:

(1) condemns bigotry, acts of violence, and intolerance against any religious group, including our friends, neighbors, and citizens of the Islamic faith;

(2) declares that the civil rights and civil liberties of all individuals, including those of the Islamic faith, should be protected;

(3) recognizes that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as any other holy book of any religion, should be treated with dignity and respect; and

(4) calls upon local, State, and Federal authorities to work to prevent bias-motivated crimes and acts against all individuals, including those of the Islamic faith.

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Critics of attempts to enact such laws in the U.S. point to the loss of civil rights experienced in other nations.

Under an Italian law against defaming Islam, best-selling writer and journalist Oriana Fallaci, who resides in the U.S., was ordered this week to stand trial in her home country for what she wrote in a recent book.

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