Robert Spencer and Michael Coren on U.S. Muslims' opposition to the freedom of speech

The Muslims are demanding that speech critical of Islam be made illegal?

What are the Muslims so afraid of discussing?

Muhammad? The supposed glorious perfection of the Qur'an?

We ex-Muslims living with Islam's formal and informal death penalty for apostasy know for certain that Islam is the exact opposite of what it claims to be.

Islam is no "Religion of Peace." Islam is primarily a religion of "injustice, intolerance, hatred, and violence." The fact is, if we non-Muslims were to say about Muslims what the Qur'an says about us, we would be arrested for hate speech. The Qur'an largely preaches discrimination, death, and imposition of its dogma on everyone. Certainly some Muslims will be offended by such statements, but frankly, so what? Judaism and Christianity, the world’s two other major monotheistic religions, have had to face the harshest of scrutiny and criticism for several hundred years which continues to this day. Islam must not be granted any special privileges or be exempt from such treatment – the implications are of tremendous importance.

Here is a recent statement from a group of Bangladeshi apostates living in the UK explaining the reasons why they have abandoned Islam:

"One who claims to be a messenger of God is expected to live a saintly life. He must not be given to lust, he must not be a sexual pervert, and he must not be a rapist, a highway robber, a war criminal, a mass murderer or an assassin. One who claims to be a messenger of God must have a superior character. He must stand above the vices of the people of his time. Yet Muhammad’s life is that of a gangster godfather. He raided merchant caravans, looted innocent people, massacred entire male populations and enslaved the women and children. He raped the women captured in war after killing their husbands and told his followers that it is okay to have sex with their captives (Qur'an 33:50). He assassinated those who criticized him and executed them when he came to power and became de facto despot of Arabia. Muhammad was bereft of human compassion. He was an obsessed man with his dreams of grandiosity and could not forgive those who stood in his way...

The statement continues,

Muhammad was a narcissist, like Hitler, Saddam or Stalin. He was astute and knew how to manipulate people, but his emotional intelligence was less evolved than that of a 6-year-old child. He simply could not feel the pain of others. He brutally massacred thousands of innocent people and pillaged their wealth. His ambitions were big and as a narcissist he honestly believed he is entitled to do as he pleased and commit all sorts of crimes and his evil deeds are justified."

Criticism Islam is already almost illegal in Europe and the United Kingdom.

It was 58% of American Muslims who think criticism or parody of Islam or Muhammad should be illegal. We can infer this straightforwardly, because 58% think such criticism or parody should not be permitted under the First Amendment. If it's not permitted, then it's illegal.

This was shown in the results for the following question:
"Do you believe that criticism of Islam or Muhammad should be permitted under the Constitution’s First Amendment?"
Yes 42%
No 58%

------------------

The 46% figure comes from a more specific question, the results of which are not very clear due to at least a few possible reasons, including the fact that there was a very large percentage of "not sure" responses (17%). 46% of American Muslims think those individuals who criticize or parody Islam should specifically face criminal charges. Only 38% disagree with this criminalization of blasphemy. Here is the item and the results:
"Do you agree or disagree that those who criticize or parody Islam in the U.S. should face criminal charges?"
46% agreed
38% disagreed
17% not sure

That's going beyond saying it should be illegal; the item mentions one way in which it could be illegal (i.e., as a criminal offense). Some Muslims may want only civil legal actions taken against blasphemers, or other official or legal actions taken to punish blasphemers; or government actions taken restrict or censor their expressions, without criminal prosecution of individual blasphemers.

Another problem with the 46% figure is that the item in question didn't mention Muhammad, whereas the other item (associated with the 58% figure, cited above) does mention Muhammad, not just Islam in general.

Anyways, I'm reluctant to use the 46% figure as the leading item in presenting this because the 58% figure is clearer and more accurate (e.g., with no ambiguous "not sure" option allowed), and 46% is surely an underestimate.

Update: October 18, 2012 "…the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has abandoned its push for a global ban on blasphemy at the United Nations

… But also, the OIC has signaled that, instead of pushing for a blasphemy ban, it will appeal to member states to apply hate speech laws to criticism of religion. …"

"OIC Summit: Ten-year strategic action plan"
"... VII. Combating Islamophobia ...."

http://schnellmann.org/hr-resolution-16-18-criminalisation-of-criticism-of-islam.html

Islam is a terror organizaition 3:151, 59:2, 8:12, 8:59/60

http://schnellmann.org/islam-is-a-plague-on-this-planet.html