SIGN OF THINGS TO COME? – AT 11:40 A.M. ET:  There are things happening in Europe that should get our attention.  Until recently the trendy left looked to Europe for guidance.  So much more refined than the flyover people in America.  Isn't it so, Comrade? 

Uh, stuff has started happening.  Look at the British election of just two days ago.  The left got massacred.  And throughout the "progressive" countries of northern Europe there's a rethink about freewheeling abortion.  A 20-week limit is now the favored course.  And even Europe's "progressive" approach to welcoming immigrants from hostile countries is undergoing review.  More and more Europeans are saying,  "Play by our rules.  You're here now."  From Norway's Local: 

Norway has scrapped its longstanding blasphemy law, meaning it is now legal to mock the beliefs of others, in a direct response to January’s brutal attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The proposal to rush through the change was made in February by Conservative MP Anders B. Werp and Progress Party MP Jan Arild Ellingsen, who argued that the law “underpins a perception that religious expressions and symbols are entitled to a special protection”.

“This is very unfortunate signal to send, and it is time that society clearly stands up for freedom of speech,” the two wrote in their proposal.

Norway’s parliament first voted to scrap the blasphemy law back in 2009, against strong opposition from the Christian Democrat party.

COMMENT:  The problem with blasphemy laws is that they don't protect modern religions, who don't need them.  They protect mostly religious movements, like radical Islam, that have a political component.  Suddenly we find that the political component is getting special protection, which is inherently undemocratic. 

One can legitimately argue whether some kind of blasphemy laws have some value.  But Norway's act should remind us that free speech is under challenge in the West, and too many people are much too casual about it.

May 9,  2015