Having It Both Ways

One consequence of Pharyngula's War On Crackers is a lot of Catholics coming out of the woodwork to challenge his consistency. "You wouldn't dare do this to Muslims!" is the cry. I have no time for this viewpoint.

Let us leave aside the likelihood that when Muslims commit violence on other people in the name of their beliefs, these Catholics would be the first to comment that Islam is incompatible with civilization or whatever. Although I suspect that is true, I can't point at anyone saying both things. And there really are some Christians who argue that insulting religion (any religion) is wrong (thankfully, others do not).

I am also going to skip arguing about whether Muslims really are more violent in defense of their religion than Christians; there's a lot of mixed evidence there, and the answer will depend on where and when you are. All I know is what I read in the papers; and I would be more confident conducting a Koran reading in St Peter's Square than a Bible reading at the Dome of the Rock.

So I'm going to assume that desecrating a Koran is more dangerous than desecrating a communion wafer (although PZ is most likely physically a lot closer to any Catholic nutcases than he is to Muslim nutcases). And I'm going to assume (against the actual evidence) that PZ would therefore choose to do one and not the other.

This is a comment about Islam, not about PZ. It's perfectly reasonable to choose not to do one thing that's more dangerous than another. I might be 100% behind your right to describe some religion as false and ridiculous; and support prosecution for anyone who harmed you for it; but I'd still recommend against saying it outside their main temple if they had a reputation for violence. Congratulations if you would anyway, but if you decide to pick another battleground, that's probably a wise choice.

If Catholics are more peaceable than Muslims, that's to their credit. You will often hear criticism of Islam that it is not tolerant of other religions and other viewpoints, or that it is incompatible with democracy. The Catholic church has come a long way since it burnt people over theological disputes, but you don't get that credit and still demand the intimidation factor of a more violent religion.

Frankly Catholics would have looked a lot better just ignoring PZ (as most of them no doubt did). For all that he looks like a flag-burner, many of the Catholics attacking him look much worse.