This is an important step

For tolerance in Saudi Arabia. [Link]

What is surprising -- and encouraging -- is what preceded and has followed the sheik's fatwa. The two writers who published the articles, Abdullah bin Bejad al-Otaibi and Yousef Aba al-Khail, are Saudi; their writing appeared in a well-known Saudi newspaper, al-Riyadh, published in the capital. While noting that their murder had been sanctioned by the cleric, the two men did not back down -- one said he would bring a lawsuit against the sheik. And this week the writers were supported by a group of more than 100 Arab rights groups and intellectuals from across the region. In a statement sent to the Reuters news agency, the group -- which included Islamist thinkers such as the Egyptian philosopher Hassan Hanafi and Lebanese scholar Radwan al-Sayyed -- said the fatwa amounted to "intellectual terrorism."

"It is incumbent upon Saudi and Arab intellectuals and those in official and unofficial institutions to stand up" to "clerics of darkness" such as Sheik Barak, the statement went on to say.

In fact the two writers seem to have won some pretty important political cover. Last week, Saudi King Abdullah delivered a little-noticed but potentially momentous statement calling for an interfaith dialogue among Saudi Muslims, Christians and Jews.

We can only hope this gains ground and spreads.