The bravery of religion is yet again on display, this time in Pakistan where a man has been sentence to death for supposedly insulting the prophet Mohammed. There’s a familiar pattern that arises in these parts: the predominately Muslim population has a few altercations with other religious groups that are Christian, and suddenly the lone person is accused of blasphemy and is usually beaten, followed by the customary kangaroo court.

Hazrat Ali Shah, 25, was convicted of blaspheming against the Muslim Prophet Mohammed and the Koran during a quarrel in his village in northern Pakistan in March 2011.

Despite the fact that many in government are actually afraid of this law, no one has the balls to repeal it, since fundamentalists can easily stir up their violence base in order to execute anyone who opposes them. While it’s true that no one has actually been executed under this law (enacted in 1986), those sentenced are usually imprisoned and then forgotten about, only to be left in the hands of their Islamic fellow prisoners. It’s an invitation to daily beating and an unceremonious prison death.