It is now safe, in England, to ridicule or criticize religion, religious belief or religious practices.

Thank goodness. Ridicule and criticism should hardly be confused with "hate speech," a phrase used entirely too liberally, and almost always by illiberal liberals. Inciting violence against any group is, and should remain a crime. Religions may be systems of sacred beliefs, but they are also social institutions, and thus fair game. We don't even need Pat Robertson to remind us of that. When social and political critics of religion - or the religious - go too far, they get their just desserts, without statist intervention.

Critics of religious critics will also be judged in the court of public opinion, and not always kindly. Sometimes they appear to be thin-skinned ninnies. Islamic protests broke out over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban, published in a Danish paper. Now some Saudis are boycotting Danish cheese. Yeah, that'll show 'em.

Outraged by French newspaper cartoons showing Mohammed in an unflattering light, The Arab League and The Organization of Islamic Conferences say they will seek a United Nations resolution, and possible sanctions, to clamp down on challenging public commentary regarding Islam and extremists. Although they phrased it in terms of protecting religion.

Guys: you need to sit down and review the scorecard of Islamic terrorist bombings, explosions, and assassinations in the last few years; review the scorecard of genital mutilation of Muslim women in Islamic countries; review the scorecard of stonings and "honor killings" by Muslim men of female relatives who have sex outside of marriage; and understand that the issue is not your feelings. The issue is that actions have consequences. For a "religion of peace," Islam needs to do a hell of a lot better.

TECHNORATI TAGS: ENGLAND, HATE SPEECH, RELIGION, LEGISLATION, FRANCE, DENMARK, CARTOONS, ISLAM, PROTESTS, UNITED NATIONS, MUSLIMS, FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION, HONOR KILLINGS