The Florida branch of the ACLU recently elected Parvez Ahmed, Chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to serve as a board member. According to the ACLU?s Florida website, Ahmed was elected as an ?at-large? member in February of this year. According to Ahmed?s bio, he was also the recipient of an ACLU ?civil liberties? award in 2002.
At a CAIR-sponsored event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on February 16, titled ?Religious and Political Perspectives on the Cartoon Controversy,? (just a week and a half after the ACLU and Ahmed formally cemented their relationship), Ahmed called for the government of the United States, and those around the world, to adopt ?blasphemy? laws as a manner to ensure that the cartoons, originally published by a Danish newspaper, could never be published again. At the event, Ahmed stated:
?I think the next steps would be to broaden the scope of anti-hate laws and even contemplate about passing blasphemy laws, because blasphemy with such sacred icons, like the Prophet Muhammad, like the Koran, or the cross, or other religious symbols ? So governments, legislatures, international bodies ? must contemplate about what are the ways in which an anti-blasphemy law can be passed that can protect the right to exercise freedom of religion.?