“Bigotry does not consort easily with free trade.”

- Peter Ackroyd, ‘Venice: Pure City’

Would you label specific goods as being produced by Muslims? Only in Malaysia are such questions asked.

Some time ago, someone asked me why the non-Muslims/Malays in Malaysia “mocked” Islam.

Mind you, the person asking the question was the kind of Muslim who defined “mocked” as any discussion whatsoever on Islam, except of course the rhetoric describing of the plight of the Palestinians or any Muslim population that were oppressed by the “West”

Of course, any discussion on how Islamic regimes oppress their populations is considered “mocking Islam”.

My answer, when you claim ownership of your religion or consent to the state claiming authority on your personal beliefs, you open your religion to ridicule by allowing a theocracy, or worse a bureaucracy, to make proclamations on how your faith is observed.

By taking religion out of the personal sphere and making it a public issue, you invite comment...