MBVD: H.Res. 141 Condemns Blasphemy Laws

Monday, March 7, 2011

H.Res. 141 Condemns Blasphemy Laws

The recent assassinations of two prominent Pakistani officials has not escaped the notice of Congress. One of my Google Alerts informed me of the existence of a House Resolution recently submitted by Rep. Trent Franks

The resolution is not limited to the murders, it also covers recent abuses of Pakistan's blasphemy law and the OIC's campaign to impose similar laws internationally through U.N. resolutions.

As soon as I read this resolution, I visited http://www.congress.org/ and sent an email to my Representative, urging him to sign onto the resolution and vote for it at every opportunity. At the same time, I sent emails to my Senators urging them to initiate and vote for a parallel resolution in the Senate.

I have highlighted what I consider to be the most important provisions of the resolution. Please read it, and if you agree with me, email your Representative & Senators urging them to vote for this resolution.

Art is long and time is fleeting. In past years, similar resolutions have been bottled up in committee, long after they could have had any possible good effect. It is expected that the UNHRC will pass another in their series of defamation resolutions this month. We need to apply sufficient pressure to get this resolution passed before that happens.

112th CONGRESS  1st SessionH. RES. 141Expressing condolences for the murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer  and Pakistan Minister of Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, and calling    for a Taseer-Bhatti Resolution in the United Nations Human Rights     Council honoring their courage in defense of core principles of  Pakistan's democracy, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human              Rights, particularly the freedom of religion._______________________________________________________________________                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                             March 3, 2011Mr. Franks of Arizona (for himself, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Shuler, Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Daniel E. Lungren of California, Mr.      Akin, Mr. Lamborn, and Mr. McGovern) submitted the following    resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs_______________________________________________________________________                               RESOLUTION Expressing condolences for the murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer  and Pakistan Minister of Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, and calling    for a Taseer-Bhatti Resolution in the United Nations Human Rights     Council honoring their courage in defense of core principles of  Pakistan's democracy, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human              Rights, particularly the freedom of religion.Whereas two respected Pakistani officials--Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and         Pakistan Minister of Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti--were both murdered         for their advocacy on behalf of religious freedom for people of all         faiths throughout Pakistan on January 4, 2011, and March 1, 2011,         respectively;Whereas both Taseer and Bhatti were actively opposed to the death sentence         handed down to Asia Bibi in November 2010 for insulting Islam and called         for amendments to the blasphemy laws;Whereas blasphemy laws under section 295(c) of the Pakistan Penal Code carry the         criminal penalties of life imprisonment and the death penalty and have         led to increasing acts of harassment and violence against Pakistani         citizens, thousands of whom have had cases filed against them often on         the basis of false accusations and with little recourse or justice;Whereas according to the United States Commission on International Religious         Freedom, ``Blasphemy laws have been used against members of religious         minorities and dissenters within the majority Muslim community, and         frequently result in imprisonment on account of religion or belief and/        or vigilante violence.'';Whereas more than 30 people have been killed by lynch mobs after being accused         of blasphemy in Pakistan since the law was adopted in 1979 and         perpetrators are seldom brought to justice;Whereas Bhatti decried recent attacks by extremist groups on religious         minorities saying they allowed intolerance and violence to perpetuate         itself;Whereas only days before he was murdered Taseer warned on Twitter: ``I was under         huge pressure 2 cow down b4 rightist pressure on blasphemy, Refused.         Even if I'm the last man standing.'';Whereas the United Nations has repeatedly endorsed blasphemy laws through annual         ``defamation of religions'' or ``vilification of religions'' resolutions         that call for member states to take measures to prevent criticism of         religion;Whereas Pakistan has been the main sponsor of resolutions through the         Organization of Islamic Conference at the United Nations since 1999         which attempt to provide an internationally recognized legal         justification for their existing blasphemy laws;Whereas according to the Department of State's 2010 International Religious         Freedom Report on Pakistan, discriminatory legislation and the         Government's failure or delay in addressing religious hostility by         societal actors fostered religious intolerance, acts of violence, and         intimidation against religious minorities;Whereas specific laws that discriminated against religious minorities included         the anti-Ahmadi provisions of the penal code and the blasphemy laws         which provided the death penalty for defiling Islam or its prophets;Whereas according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, ``Blasphemy laws         empower states against their citizens, protect ideas rather than         individuals, and engender violence by condemning peaceful speech. While         proponents of the `defamation of religions' resolution and blasphemy         laws say they are needed to defend the honor of vulnerable religious         believers, in reality they only achieve more violence by creating a         culture of impunity where the state officially sides with extremists.'';         andWhereas recalling that Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of the Republic, in an         historic speech before the constituent assembly in 1947 urged citizens         to worship as they choose and stated, ``You may belong to any religion         or caste or creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the         State.'': Now, therefore, be it    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--            (1) calls on the Secretary of State and the United States         Permanent Representative to the United Nations to introduce a         ``Taseer-Bhatti Resolution'' in the United Nations Human Rights         Council advocating the repeal of blasphemy laws and condemning         their adverse effects on freedom of religion and thought and to         continue to work to defeat passage of the annual ``defamation''         resolutions introduced by the Organization of Islamic         Conference; and            (2) calls on the President to initiate a dialogue with the         Government of Pakistan to address the blasphemy laws, including         engaging in a bilateral review of--                    (A) the compatibility of all blasphemy legislation                 with the universally recognized freedom of religion                 with the intent to repeal or amend such incompatible                 legislation;                    (B) the actions against those who make claims of                 blasphemy that have incited violence;                    (C) how the Government of Pakistan protects                 individuals like Taseer and Bhatti and can establish an                 early warning mechanism to protect all citizens from                 calls to violence; and                    (D) the burden of proof used to allow citizens to                 file claims of blasphemy against other citizens and                 whether such claims need to meet a certain threshold of                 evidence before being filed, education provided the                 general public on the rights of religious minorities in                 order to create a climate of religious tolerance.

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Underwear (men and women (all sizes)
Toothbrushes
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Backpacks
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PLEASE HELP US HELP THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM!

My Favorite Speeches and Other Items of Interest

George Bush's March 28, 2007 Discusses Economy, War on Terror During Remarks to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association;http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070328-2.html
Mitch McConnell's March 15, 2007 Funding For Troops, Not Timelines for Retreat; http://mcconnell.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=270747&start=1
Ronald Reagan's June 12, 1987 Tear Down This Wall Speech; http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/wall.asp
Vice President Cheney's March 12, 2007 Remarks at the AIPAC 2007 Policy Conference; http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070312.html

Winston Churchill Quotes

A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.
Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.
Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.
Danger - if you meet it promptly and without flinching - you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!
I always seem to get inspiration and renewed vitality by contact with this great novel land of yours which sticks up out of the Atlantic.
I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.
I like a man who grins when he fights.
I was only the servant of my country and had I, at any moment, failed to express her unflinching resolve to fight and conquer, I should at once have been rightly cast aside.
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a tremendous whack.
In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.
It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.
Moral of the Work. In war: resolution. In defeat: defiance. In victory: magnanimity. In peace: goodwill.
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
Never, never, never give up.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism.
One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
The first quality that is needed is audacity.
The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go.
The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.
There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.
These are not dark days: these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived.
They are decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.
True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin, keep out of the way till you can.
War is mainly a catalogue of blunders.
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.
When the eagles are silent the parrots begin to jabber.
When you are winning a war almost everything that happens can be claimed to be right and wise.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Ronald Reagan Quotes

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant: It's just that they know so much that isn't so."
Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.
All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.
Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources
Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.
Double, no triple, our troubles and we'd still be better off than any other people on earth. It is time that we recognized that ours was, in truth, a noble cause.
Facts are stupid things.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.
History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.
How can a president not be an actor?
How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.
I will stand on, and continue to use, the figures I have used, because I believe they are correct. Now, I'm not going to deny that you don't now and then slip up on something; no one bats a thousand.
In Israel, free men and women are every day demonstrating the power of courage and faith. Back in 1948 when Israel was founded, pundits claimed the new country could never survive. Today, no one questions that. Israel is a land of stability and democracy in a region of tryanny and unrest.
Let us ask ourselves; "What kind of people do we think we are?".
Man is not free unless government is limited.
My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out.
No mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology.
Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.
Our forbearance should never be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act.
Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.
Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.
The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas - a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.
The United Sates has much to offer the third world war.
There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world's strongest economy.
Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong.
We are never defeated unless we give up on God.
We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child.
We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free.
Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.
You know, if I listened to Michael Dukakis long enough, I would be convinced we're in an economic downturn and people are homeless and going without food and medical attention and that we've got to do something about the unemployed.