It seems a photo caused quite a stir on the internet recently. Was it a drawing of the prophet Mohammed? That seems absurd enough for people to get riled up over. No? Was it images of holy books being defamed? No? What then?
It was this picture. The picture of a group of Malaysian men and women sitting together on benches. It looks peaceful so what’s offensive about this image? Well, the photo was touted as evidence that a bunch of Muslims were sitting in a (gasp!) church because (clutching pearls!) they had converted to Christianity.
This photo incited an uproar when it was positioned as Muslims in a church following conversion to Christianity.
BBC News reports that:
According to Yu Ren Chung, investigations have traced the misuse of the image to a single blogger whose post was picked up by other blogs in Indonesia. Authorities are now investigating the issue, The Malay Mail says.
However, the image was not of new Muslim apostates, but people attending a conference in the main hall of Kuala Lumpur’s International Islamic University.
Why would one Islamic group call the framing of this image a “despicable act” that caused “shame and distress” for those in the photo? You may think this is an over-reaction (like so many other Islamic over reactions) but it really isn’t. Why? Because, even though Malaysia has a secular constitution that guarantees freedom of religion, like many Islamic nations, apostates face harsh punishments.
These are people of The Book! If they were shown as atheists, can you imagine the uproar? After all, 13 countries execute atheists today. Talk about religion poisoning everything!
