While international efforts establish legal protections for freedom of expression and other freedoms, it is important not to end the discussion there. We must promote engagement and dialogue that remains focused on matters of human dignity.

Polio is a devastating infectious disease paralyzing many of those infected, but following the Taliban's execution of 16 health workers engaged in Pakistan's polio eradication program in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, preventing polio is now deadlier than the disease.

One of the great themes of the Christian Easter story is that the love of God can overcome the worst of human folly, wickedness and weakness. This idea, if taken seriously, would be a tonic in many parts of the world today, but perhaps nowhere is it more desperately needed than in the Muslim world.

Harassing minorities in the pretense of blasphemy accusations is not my version of Islam. Maybe that's why Pakistan's constitution does not consider Ahmadi Muslims to be "real" Muslims. But Scripture tells us that it's not Prophet Muhammad's version of Islam either.

As an American, I feel shamed by the ways that my society mistreats Muslims here. By exactly the same token, Pakistan and all Pakistanis are shamed by mistreatment of Christians in Pakistan.

Opponents of Islam claim it denies freedom of speech and censors those who insult Islam. This is factually incorrect. After all, the Prophet Muhammad called differences of opinion a blessing in society and never sought to censor or threaten those who verbally attacked him.

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Every civilization and every religion has experienced similar mob behavior and miscarriages of justice, but that is no excuse for the current misuse of the blasphemy laws that is taking place in Pakistan.

While recent events have allowed our critics to perpetuate a falsehood about the OIC's position on defamation, we must remember that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has made great advances on both freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

Whether you are Pussy Riot locked away in a Russian prison for a "punk prayer" or 14-year old Rimsha Masih, arrested after being accused of burning the Quran, the sad reality is that religious protectionism without freedom of expression is always a tool for power.

In his maiden speech before the United Nations General Assembly, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi struck out against the freedom of expression as a universal principle. The speech was warmly received.

Freedom of speech is the foundation of all freedoms and intellectual debate, and the cornerstone for development in the Muslim world. If denied, the door to women's reform will close and the Muslim world will regress even further.

There is no evidence that restricting speech prohibits intolerance, and, in fact, evidence shows that prohibitions on so-called blasphemous speech actually increases intolerance and leads to a wide-range of human rights abuses.

One of the reasons to be wary of blasphemy laws, besides the limits that they place on freedom of speech, is that they tend to concede the legitimacy of religious outrage in all its fanatical fury, even though the charge of blasphemy has too often been manipulated for political motives.

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Hate has become the tonic chord of our times. Its frequency in the news has more than doubled in the last five years, and, according to Google Trends, this year as a search term it spiked to an all-time high.

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