Today the supreme court of Pakistan acquitted Asia Bibi of all the charges against her. Mrs. Bibi, who is Roman Catholic, was found guilty of blasphemy in 2010 and condemned to death. The incident allegedly took place during a dispute with several Muslims over a glass of water.

Radical Islamist leaders in Pakistan consider this verdict an intolerable affront to Islam and are threatening violence in the streets and calling for the death of the supreme court judges. To be clear, Mrs. Bibi’s defence lawyer and the judges are all Muslims, we must not tar all Pakistanis and all Muslims with the same brush. But Islamist militants appear to have no respect for anything that differs from their view of how society should work.

Yesterday in the U.S.A., President Trump and his wife Melania were in Pittsburgh to show their respect for those who lost their lives, or were injured, in last Saturday’s shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue. From the vitriol of those who protested his visit it would seem that he has committed blasphemy against some people’s idea of sacred truth. At least there were no death threats.

Some people do not like Donald Trump, that is permitted in a democratic society. But what has happened to the concept of civil debate and respect for the office of the president?