Is the U.S. as backward as Pakistan? Where religion is concerned, perhaps we are

This from the most recent newsletter of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies:

THE PAKISTAN PARADOX: The Wall Street Journal tells the story:
Last month, Salman Taseer, the liberal-minded governor of the Pakistani province of Punjab, appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari to commute the death sentence of a Christian woman named Asia Bibi, a mother of five who had been convicted of blasphemy by a local court. On Tuesday, Taseer paid dearly for his decency when one of his bodyguards murdered him at close range. …

Ms. Bibi's only crime was to have been involved in a verbal altercation with fellow field hands after they had refused to take water drawn by her "unclean" Christian hands, an insult to which she allegedly replied in kind. That put her afoul of Pakistan's infamous blasphemy laws under which hundreds of Christians, Ahmadis and Hindus have been persecuted for decades. Taseer was among the most prominent politicians in Pakistan to call for those laws to be amended.

Pakistans radical Islamist parties -- which have never had much success at the polls but know how to dominate a street -- are now treating Taseer's killer as a hero.
More here.

Matt Kaminiski reports on his recent interview with Taseer, who was unusual in
his willingness to openly challenge Islamist dictates. "They want to hold the entire country hostage," he told me. Most Pakistanis agree with him, he added, since "they vote for secular parties." …

Taseer had called for parliament to amend Pakistan's law on blasphemy—a "black law" in his words—that mandates the death penalty for insulting Islam. In our conversation, he saw little room for compromise with fundamentalists who fare badly in elections and resort to violence. "These are not people you can mollycoddle," he said. "These are killers." …

[T]he recent killings bring home a new reality: Islamism is carving out a growing space for itself. Its sway isn't limited to the northwestern frontier territories beyond the control of Islamabad, or the unruly southern province of Baluchistan. It has put down roots everywhere—perhaps most worryingly in the Punjab, Pakistan’s heartland. …

Sufi shrines and Shiites are Islamist targets. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of local men are said to have joined insurgent groups to fight in Afghanistan or against Pakistan. People speak of a Punjabi Taliban recruiting force active in the poorer south of the province.

It's part of a larger national shift. …

The links between armed Islamic groups and various religious political parties are indisputable.

The fight over blasphemy, sparked by a recent death sentence passed down against a Christian woman, is really about what kind of Islam and what kind of state Pakistan will have. To liberals like Taseer, Mohammad Jinnah, the urbane founder of Pakistan who favored tweed jackets and whiskey, sought to create "a secular and democratic" state for Muslims. …

Islamism shrinks space for liberalism. Textbooks drawn up in the Zia era drum hatred into impressionable minds, while the madrassas, or religious schools, are (as Taseer put it) "the swamps amidst which the mosquitos grow."
More here.

Reuters reports:
Five hundred Pakistani religious scholars said that anyone who expressed grief over the assassination … could suffer the same fate. …

The scholars praised the "courage" and religious zeal of the killer, saying his action had made Muslims around the world proud. Pakistani officials said they were investigating whether the killing was part of a wider conspiracy.

Now consider this news report from America:

ASSOCIATED PRESS: PHOENIX - Arizona lawmakers have passed emergency legislation to outlaw picketing by an anti-"gay" church near the funeral for a nine-year-old girl who was killed during Saturday's shooting in Tucson. Gov. Jan Brewer then signed into law the ban on protests within 300 feet of funeral sites.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, said they plan to picket Thursday's funeral for one of the six victims, Christina Taylor Green, because they believe "God sent the shooter to deal with idolatrous America." The church has picketed military funerals to draw attention to its view that U.S. troop deaths are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Religion, I always thought, is intended to give comfort, promote charity, and bring peace to our souls. What is wrong with these people? Half a world away from one another, they are cut from the same ignorant, cruel and bigoted mold. Pakistanis and AMericans should share a common shame about such behavior.