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BBC Urdu reports — according to a Google Translation — that Pakistan’s Deputy Attorney General has launched a criminal investigation against Zuckerberg and others in response to Facebook hosting a “Draw Muhammad” contest on its site late last month. On May 19, Pakistani authorities blocked access to Facebook over the contest, and this ban was lifted on May 31 after Facebook removed the page in Pakistan and other countries.

Last month, according to English-language Pakistani newspaper The News International, a Pakistani High Court judge summoned the police after lawyer Muhammad Azhar Siddique filed an application for a First Information Report (FIR), claiming that the owners of Facebook had committed a heinous and serious crime under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code. In essence, an FIR launches a criminal investigation. But no charges have been filed.

According to the paper, Section 295-C of the penal code reads: “Use of derogatory remark etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet, whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable for fine.”

According to two reports — one at Boxcrack.net, a kind of citizen journalism site run by Privacy International, and another at Pro Pakistani, a Pakistani Telecom and IT news site that lifted the news from BBC Urdu — the Deputy Attorney General has indeed lodged an FIR against Zuckerberg, fellow co-founders Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, and “Andy”, the German woman who initiated the Draw Muhammad contest under a pseudonym.

According to Pro Paskistani, petitioner Muhammad Azhar Sidiqque said he’s waiting for the police to contact Interpol about making arrangements for the arrest of Facebook’s owners and “Andy”. The site also says that the Deputy Attorney General told the High Court that Pakistan’s United Nations representative has asked to escalate the issue in the UN General Assembly. (theregister.com)

Do these Pakistani fools have nothing better to do? Couldn’t their time be better spent trying to drag themselves out of the 3rd century into the 21st the rest of the world is experiencing?

Yes, the Draw Muhammad contest was blasphemous; it was meant to be. It was intended to expose the superstitious nonsense that passes for religion. This response simply reinforces the fact that Islam as practiced by far too many Muslims is anything but a religion of peace. It’s more like a petulant 4-year-old who doesn’t get his way and throws tantrums at every opportunity.

Get a clue, folks. The non-Muslim world doesn’t give a flying fuck about your prophet or your beliefs, just like the non-Christian world doesn’t give a flying fuck about their silly beliefs. If your beliefs work for you, great, be as illogical and unrealistic as you want. But don’t fool yourselves into thinking those outside your club care to live by your rules. The more you try to force your unwanted beliefs on us, the harder we’ll fight back and stand up to your attempted enslavement of our freedom to think as we wish.

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That’s a complaint atheists encounter on a regular basis; atheists demean believers and misrepresent their beliefs in an effort to belittle them.

Do theists ever listen to themselves or read what they write?

Fox News on-line has a reasonably “fair and balanced” article on the different viewpoints on religion held by Christpher Hitchens and his brother Peter. Perhaps conveniently Christopher couldn’t be reached for comment, but even though the article is focused primarily on Peter’s comments it still manages not to completely vilify Christopher.

Like many on-line news outlets, even blogs, the comments reveal more than the article does.

Right off the bat the accusations fly,

theists are free to not believe in God if they don’t want to. Wnat bothers me is (1) Arrogance of some atheists and their disdain for those who believe, and (2) Some atheists’ suppression of fair debate and expression of thought

Obviously the religious never engage in disdain for those who don’t agree with them and are never arrogant. Right. Let’s read further,

“To those who call themselves “atheists”: There is no God? Really? And you know this HOW? You have been EVERYWHERE and know EVERYTHING in all dimensions and in all galaxies, and there is no God?”

There are several documented cases of people experiencing discrimination simply by offering an opinion other than Big Bang and Evolution. There is no one stupid except for the one unwilling to learn.

“Evolution is a proven fact.” You’ve just proven how little you know about your cherished theory.

One simple question to those “atheist” out there. Where did life come from? Hmm? And don’t say macro evolution. Evolution is a disproven THEORY. A rational “atheist” would be more accurate in calling themselves an agnostic.

God is the Spirit of Truth says the Holy Bible. Fear of God is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs) but a fool says in his heart, there is no God (Psalm 14). Science is the study of nature, which reveals the handiwork of God. God is not a respector of nations or individuals. A nation that does not respect God shall not prosper.

Believing that there isn’t a God is also a belief. It must be an unfounded belief because it can’t be proven any more than one can prove there is a God. And many prefer to believe that love and intelligence and creativity flows through us and comes from an eternal God.

Being atheistic is largely an ego thing..A longing to be different..A cry for attention..”Look at me..I’m an atheist..” So, big deal….. Being an old US Army veteran I can attest to the fact there are no atheists in foxholes…

I’m not going to make the ridiculous claim, as some theists might about their fellow believers, that non-believers are always polite and respectful of the opinions of others. Obviously there are some very angry atheists out there who are tired of being condemned to hell and called fools for their lack of faith. Perhaps they have had enough of the unreasonable presumption that only those who believe in gods are true patriots or qualified to hold public office. Maybe they’ve had enough of hearing the religious say that non-believers desire only to live in sin and not be accountable to one god or another. There might even be more than a few really angry non-believers living under theocratic governments who are resentful of knowing at any moment they could be arrested and executed without a fair trial simply for not agreeing with the ruling majority.

I’m sure many people living under constant persecution and threats of death come across less than genial when speaking out against their oppressors. I don’t doubt that there are those who, while not living under such intolerable conditions, empathize so much with those who do that their own opinions are less than polite. That the religious are blind to those conditions is not surprising, nor is it excusable.

Most of the atheists I know don’t consider believers to be stupid in the totality of their thinking; it’s only on the topic of gods that many intelligent people abandon their otherwise healthy skepticism and doubt and embrace the fantastic without question. It’s not that stupid people are religious, it’s that religion makes you stupid about belief.

And if that sort of comment offends you, tough shit. Get the mote out of your own eye before you attempt to bitch about my vision. (BTW-I, too, am an Army veteran, and let me tell you, there are indeed atheists in foxholes. I was one.)

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