The latest from the United Nations:

Islamic countries pushed through a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday urging a global prohibition on the public defamation of religion _ a response largely to the furor last year over caricatures published in a Danish newspaper of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.

That’s a great idea. I assume, of course, that the final global prohibition will prevent anyone from defaming any religious belief. Will Muslims be encouraged to stop calling non-Muslims “infidels”? Will Christians be encouraged to stop using the word “crusade”? Will everyone be encouraged to stop using “godless” as a synonym for “evil”? If the whole world is required to respect (or at least not defame) all other religions, the same must apply to the lack thereof. I’d better not hear anyone making fun of Zeus and Apollo. No more calling Thor a “homo” either.

This really is a great idea. How will the UN enforce this–economic sanctions? Canadian peacekeeping forces to prevent further insult-hurling? Perhaps a joint Malaysian and Ghanaian peacekeeping force could be deployed to Copenhagen to prevent further newspaper cartoons. Could a UN-backed global prohibition be all we really need to put an end to sectarian violence once and for all? And would it mean and end to quality programming like this: