BAHADIR BARUTER

From Hurriyet Daily News. A Turkish cartoonist will be put on trial for a cartoon he drew in which he renounced God. The Istanbul chief public prosecutor's office charged cartoonist Bahadır Baruter with "insulting the religious values adopted by a part of the population" and requested his imprisonment for up to one year.

In a cartoon published in the weekly Penguen humor magazine, Baruter depicts an imam and believers praying in a mosque. One of the characters is talking to God on his cellphone and asking to be pardoned from the last part of the prayer because he has errands to run. But the renunciation occurs on the wall decoration of the mosque, where Baruter hid the words, "There is no Allah; religion is a lie” (circled in red, below). 

Turkish Religous Affairs and Foundation Members' Union and some citizens filed complaints against Baruter, and the public prosecutor's office accepted the complaints and filed a lawsuit against the cartoonist.

That’s what life is like in a country the government of which is operated at the whim of the nation’s major religion. Keep it in mind the next time some aspirant for residence in our White House is criticized for not being religious enough. Or for adhering to the wrong religion.