TRULY FRIGHTENING – AT 10:02 A.M. ET:  The campaign to ban "insults" to Islam is gaining strength.  What is unique is that this campaign, originating in the Muslim world, seeks to restrict free speech in the West. 

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of a leading Islamic organization Saturday called for a global ban on offending the character of the Prophet Muhammad, saying that it should be equated with hate speech.

Such a ban would demonstrate how an interconnected world respected different cultural sensitivities, said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in an interview with The Associated Press.

"If the Western world fails to understand the sensitivity of the Muslim world, then we are in trouble," Ihsanoglu said. Such provocations pose "a threat to international peace and security and the sanctity of life."

Ihsanoglu's remarks follow protests that erupted in Muslim countries after a low-budget film, "Innocence of Muslims," produced by a U.S. citizen denigrated the Prophet Muhammad by portraying Islam's holiest figure as a fraud, womanizer and child molester.

Some two dozen demonstrators were killed in protests that attacked symbols of U.S. and the West, including diplomatic compounds. The U.S. Ambassador to Libya and three of his colleagues were killed in an attack on their compound in the eastern city of Benghazi during the same time.

Many of the protests were led or provoked by hardline puritan Muslims, who form small but growing minorities throughout the Islamic world.

Ihsanoglu, whose organization represents 57 Muslim-majority countries, said they respect the right of freedom of expression, but believed a line had to be drawn at incitement.

"We are not saying stop free speech. We are staying stop hate speech," Ihsanoglu said.

COMMENT:  Do not underestimate the power of that movement.  There is a lot of money in the Muslim world, and it will be used to advance its outrageous demands.

Sadly, tragically, the idea of restricting speech will find a warm welcome on many college campuses, where speech codes banning "hate" speech are already in place.  These codes, naturally, are applied very unevenly.  If you're part of a favored group, you're treated one way.  If you're a white, Christian male, you're treated another.  A pro-life female – the same boat as the white male.  A Cuban immigrant who rejects Castro?  How much respect do you think you'll get at UC Berkeley?

Ten years ago a true civil liberties lawyer told me how worried he was about the universities, and he mentioned speech codes as one of his concerns.  The codes were teaching students, he said, to accept restrictions on their freedom.  Those students would become national leaders in 20 years. 

I suspect the Muslim movement will succeed in many places.  It is up to the rest of us to protect free speech, even if we find it obnoxious.  We can deal with obnoxious.  We can't deal with being arrested for saying something controversial, or with being thrown out of school for the same reason.

Welcome to "1984."

September 30, 2012