UN Trumps 1st Amendment?

[Annie]

The UN could not bring itself to condemn Iran for snatching British military personelle yesterday, but they are at work today on another topic.

As noted on another thread, none of the MSM were willing to take on the Mohammed cartoon caper.

Now the UN wishes to codify that it's not possible, even when acknowledged that they didn't out of concern for their employees, (gives one a warm, fuzzy feeling, no?)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070330/wl_nm/religion_rights_islam_dc_1

U.N. rights body condemns "defamation" of religion

Fri Mar 30, 11:59 AM ET

The United Nations top human rights body condemned "defamation" of religion on Friday and, in an apparent reference to the storm over the Prophet cartoons, said press freedom had its limits.

With the support of China, Russia and Cuba, Moslem and Arab states comfortably won a vote on the 47-state Human Rights Council to express concern at "negative stereotyping" of religions and "attempts to identify Islam with terrorism."

"The resolution is tabled in the expectation that it will compel the international community to acknowledge and address the disturbing phenomena of the defamation of religions, especially Islam," said Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

The resolution was opposed by Western states which said it focused too much on Islam. The job of the Council was to deal with the rights of individuals not religions, they said.

"The European Union does not see the concept of defamation of religion as a valid one in a human rights discourse," a spokeswoman for the delegation of Germany, which holds the EU presidency, told the Council.

The resolution urged countries to ensure their laws gave adequate protection against acts of "hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from defamation of religions."

While everybody had the right to freedom of expression, this should be exercised according to limitations of the law and respect for others, including respect for religions and beliefs, it said.

In 2006, violent protests rocked cities from Morocco to Malaysia over Danish cartoons of Islam's Prophet Mohammad published in September 2005, which Muslims regarded as sacrilegious and an attack on their beliefs.

The vote was 24 countries in favor of the resolution, 14 against and with 9 abstentions.

 

[boedicca]

Well, Judaism is a religion. Does this mean that the Middle East members will be proscribed from using the UN to demonize it?

 

[Annie]

Well, Judaism is a religion. Does this mean that the Middle East members will be proscribed from using the UN to demonize it?

Seems the definition of religion might change? Did you see the chocolate Jesus in NY hotel, coinciding with Easter? That's just fine? (It's protected, though I'm trying to find the hotel, so I NEVER stay there or in any of its extensions if any).

I wonder about Palestinian and Saudi children's programming, depicting Jews as pigs and monkies or drainers of children's blood?

I would guess that the idea of 'depictions of the prophet' make it illegal to do with Islam, but lack of same in Bible take other religions off the list?

 

[boedicca]

The next step is for the UN to declare that there are only two valid religions in the world: Islam and Secular Statism.