I’m very surprised to have run across the phrase in the title of this post not in an ayatollah’s fatwa but instead in an en banc ruling of the Ninth Circuit yesterday. Specifically, in setting forth the facts in her majority opinion in the Innocence of Muslims video copyright dispute (in Garcia v. Google, Inc.), Judge Margaret McKeown states:

By all accounts, Cindy Lee Garcia was bamboozled when a movie producer transformed her five-second acting performance into part of a blasphemous video proclamation against the Prophet Mohammed.

I find this phrasing very odd in two related respects. First, as this NRO essay discusses, to use the phrase “the Prophet Mohammed” is “implicitly [to] side with those who accept that he was, in fact, ‘the Prophet.’” It’s strange enough that that usage has become commonplace in the media and among non-Muslims. But it’s stranger still that judges, who might be expected to be more attentive to matters of religious neutrality, would use it. I recognize that the context might sometimes require more than simply “Mohammed,” but something like “the Muslim prophet Mohammed”—which ought to be taken to mean that he is regarded as a prophet within the Muslim faith—would seem clear while avoiding the twin errors of implicit endorsement, on the one hand, and disparagement, on the other.

Likewise, the term “blasphemous” strikes me as an assessment that American judges should not be making, as it implies a judgment on a matter of religious doctrine. Why not instead simply convey the relevant point that others viewed a statement or act as blasphemous?

I see that McKeown’s statement begins with the phrase “By all accounts.” But that phrase seems most naturally to cover the proposition that “Garcia was bamboozled.” In any event, agreement among the parties should not lead judges to make implicit endorsements of particular religious views.

So, Judge McKeown, how about revising that sentence to read:

By all accounts, Cindy Lee Garcia was bamboozled when a movie producer transformed her five-second acting performance into part of a video proclamation against the Muslim prophet Mohammed that was widely regarded by Muslims as blasphemous.