This is a terrific article by Daniel Finkelstein. I came across it in the weekend edition of the Japan News that I picked up here in Niseko, Hokkaido (where the snow is great, the skiing fine and issues of Islamic predations are far away...)
"Blasphemy provides oppressive elites and arbitrary courts with a vague law you can offend against even without knowing."Finkelstein refers to an "invaluable book", Silenced, by Marshall and Shea, which explains how blasphemy law has become the primary tool of control by oppressive regimes across the Muslim world.
