Mood:  incredulous

There's reason to hate this ruling from France

Friday, June 06, 2008

In the seemingly never-ending reminders that it’s a crazy world we live in, there was news last week that none other than Brigitte Bardot was convicted by a French court for “inciting hatred against Muslims.”

Her transgression? She wrote the interior minister of France complaining about the way Muslims kill animals that they use during religious holidays. It seems the Muslim way of slaughtering animals is much the same as the radical Muslim way of beheading Westerners: They refuse to stun them before killing them.

Bardot, long an animal-rights activist, finds the practice barbaric and decided to let the government know what she thought.

Included in the letter was this sentence: “I’ve had enough of being led by the nose by this whole population which is destroying us, (and) destroying our country by imposing their ways.”

That prose, in France, apparently is beyond the bounds of acceptable speech and amounts to inciting hatred.

Bardot’s letter netted her a fine of $23,325, and nearly landed her in jail.

What baloney.

Every civilized country in the world should condemn France for violating Bardot’s — and anyone else who dares to questions any Muslim practice — free-speech rights.

We’ve often wondered about the logic, or rather illogic, of making “hate” a crime. “Hate” is a natural human emotion — just as is joy, love and grief. The Ayn Rand Institute, in a compelling argument, noted that hate is the natural reaction to evil. To make it illegal, as France does, is to make any moral judgment illegal.

That is like outlawing human nature.

Bardot’s conviction and fine are an affront to anyone who believes in the freedom of speech and it should be overturned.

If Muslims find religious practices of others offensive, as they have, they should have the right to say so, as they have. And if others find the religious practices of Muslims offensive, they, too, should have that right to speak their minds.