Mobs, drunk on religion, are attacking western embassies around the world, killing innocent people. Their excuse? Revenge for a perceived insult to their touchy god, an insult contained in a video by a deranged Christian.
But the culture that spawned these mobs treats its own dissidents with far more ferocity than a mere insult. On September 12, Egyptian computer science student Alber Saber was besieged by a crowd outside his house. Terrified, Saber’s mother called police, who, when they arrived, insulted Saber.
Well, no, that would not have satisfied the mob. In fact, the police arrested Saber and threw him in jail. You can guess his crime, of course. Alber Saber is an atheist and his crime is insulting Islam.
There’s an imbalance here. Insults don’t hurt; jail does. Saber was attacked by another inmate soon after he arrived. At least the makers of the video, crazy though they were, did not kill, maim or kidnap anyone.
This is no time for complacency. Left to grow, religious lunacy threatens liberties even in the western world. Former American president George H.W. Bush is on record as saying,”I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”
Now, George H.W. Bush was spawned by a family singularly unnoted for its intellectual acumen, but that attitude, shared by many Americans, threatens to flourish in America as Christian zealots get their knickers in a knot over the Islamic protests.
So perhaps it is time to insult some people. Let’s start with the Egyptian police. Continue with the mobs, carry on with Terry Jones’ rabble and finish up with Christian fundamentalists.
Okay, you rabble. You are all wankers.
I hope that really hurt.
