In an interview with the French literary magazine Lire, bestselling French novelist Michel Houellebecq vented his distaste for Islam, calling it "the stupidest religion." That remark landed Houellebecq in the dock: Incensed Muslim groups accused him of "inciting religious hatred," and the government dutifully tried him for his thought-crimes. Although a Paris court yesterday acquitted Houellebecq, the very fact that the French are now putting writers on trial for their opinions is indicative of that country's ominous turn toward politically correct policing. Further evidence can be found in the 93% tax recently imposed on "any French-made film deemed pornographic or an incitement to violence" (parliament deputy Charles de Courson explained bluntly: "We want to destroy their profitability to discourage further investments") and in the French interior ministry's move to ban Rose Bonbon, a novel that portrays a paedophile murderer. It seems that in France, liberte, egalite, fraternite is fast becoming histoire.