Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Egypt is a bit confused

Egypt doesn't seem to understand this whole democracy thing. The following lead paragraphs are from two different stories in the news this evening:
Egyptian prosecutors referred to trial Tuesday a well-known radical Islamist who tore up an English copy of the Bible during a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo against an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said freedom of expression must be used responsibly in a speech Tuesday to the Clinton Global Initiative in New York that hinted at looming tensions in the newly-democratic nation.
Yup, they're going to have to learn how to drive this bus. Mind you, I like Morsi. He's not a dunce and he's made some smart statements along the way. Besides, he's new at his job. I'm willing to cut him some slack. Who knows, with a little practice he might figure it out. But for the moment, the poor man's not even in the ballpark.

Blasphemy laws are really muddying the democratic waters in Egypt and other Middle east nations. Such laws cannot co-exist with democracy -- but the Egyptian people don't know this yet. I feel empathy for them, especially since so many Americans are slavering for an opportunity to establish a Christian theocracy here. If this ever happened, we'd have blasphemy laws within minutes.

The answer is always the same. Religion has to go if the world is ever to know peace.