Sony gets cold feet, and the bmsd

Sony has delayed the launch of a new video game because of fears that the background music may offend Muslims. The music, by Muslim musician Toumani Diabaté from Mali, contains a couple of phrases from the Qur’an. When their attention was drawn to this, Sony decided not to risk offending anyone. Whatever you do, if it’s anything to do with religion, you’re bound to offend someone.

On the BBC news, Muslim journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown said more or less the same thing. She was quoted as speaking for British Muslims for a Secular Democracy, which was founded in May this year. Alibhai-Brown was scornful about easily-offended Muslims. The bmsd (they use lower case) aims to:

Raise awareness within British Muslims and the wider public, of democracy, particularly ‘secular democracy’, helping to contribute to a shared vision of citizenship (the separation of faith and state, so faiths exert no undue influence on policies and there is a shared public space).

That’s good, isn’t it?