Irelands Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has proposed an autumn referendum to decide on whether or not to repeal the recently introduced blasphemy law.
This is indeed good news. If you disagree then consider for one moment that “blasphemy” laws are used by Islamic states to demoralise, persecute, and control non-Muslims. Islamic blasphemy laws have been used in disputes and land grabs.
Consider also that blasphemy laws in the western world strengthens the case for the ‘Organization of the Islamic Conference’ to introduce a U.N. Resolution banning “defamation” of religion, which would usher in a global blasphemy law and only favour Islam.
Pakistan co-opted the wording of the Irish Blasphemy law in their submission to the UN, in order to bolster their own blasphemy laws. Recently Pakistani Christians have been sentenced to 25 years in jail for alleged blasphemy in relation to the Qu’ran.
In my opinion anyone should be free to “blaspheme” if they so choose and religious folks should be grown up enough and secure in their identity and beliefs to rise above it (and that goes for everyone by the way).
If religious folk wish to retain the right to comment freely and potentially negatively regarding other belief systems or lifestyles, then we must accept quid pro quo.
Cross Post from MediaWatchWatch (permission pending but expected):
Irish blasphemy law could go to referendum!
Great news from Atheist Ireland (via The Freethinker): Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has proposed an autumn referendum do decide on whether or not to repeal the recently introduced blasphemy law.
The chastened Ahern told today’s Sunday Times (no link yet),
There was an incredibly sophisticated campaign [against me], mainly on the internet. I was only doing my duty in relation to it, because clearly it is in the constitution. The attorney general said ‘there is this absolute, mandatory thing… it is an offence, punishable by law.
Atheist Ireland said,
We reiterate our position that this law is both silly and dangerous: silly because it is introducing medieval canon law offence into a modern plularist republic; and dangerous because it incentives religious outrage and because its wording has already been adopted by Islamic States as part of their campaign to make blasphemy a crime internationally.
Although the final decision on the referendum rests with the cabinet, this looks like an occasion to congratulate everyone involved in the campaign. It just goes to show that defiance and ridicule can be powerful weapons. Maybe they should be used more often?
PZ Myers has commented positively also:
I hope that this law will be repealed in Ireland and that there will not be “blasphemy laws through the back door”, as in the recent troubling English criminal legal case involving Harry Taylor:
Tags: Christianity, Law Moral Ethical, News, Politics
March 15th, 2010 at 11:54 am
Thanks for the link, Stuart. For future reference – you do not need to ask my permission to crosspost anything from MWW.
March 15th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Thanks as always David