Secularism and Freedom

Just finished five twelve-hour days and am a bit under the weather. Here's an interesting post to contemplate while I recover:

UPDATED: Rushdie, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Bernard-Henri Levy, and Others: "UPDATE 2: Mark Steyn writes...

'Paul Belien's response to the declaration by Rushdie, Levy et al is close to my own thinking. So too are Kathy Shaidle's observations on 'secularism' and 'apostasy'. This manifesto is an insufficient banner with which to rally the west.

***
The manifesto reads, in part:

'We reject 'cultural relativism', which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of 'Islamophobia', an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.'

"{snip}

"Do read the whole thing."

(Via religion blog ++ relapsed catholic ++.)