Blasphemy Laws Goes Into Effect In Ireland

The blasphemy law that was passed in Ireland in mid-2009 went into effect yesterday.   The law states that:

A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding 25,000 euro.

"Blasphemous" materials such as books, videos and so forth could be confiscated.

A person has committed the crime of blasphemy when:

(a) he or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion, and (b) he or she intends, by the publication or utterance of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage.

Atheist Ireland has started a campaign to repeal the blasphemy law and as part of the campaign, has published a list of 25 blasphemous statements, including blasphemous statements made by Jesus Christ and Mohammad.  The group observes that,

This new law is both silly and dangerous. It is silly because medieval religious laws have no place in a modern secular republic, where the criminal law should protect people and not ideas. And it is dangerous because it incentives religious outrage, and because Islamic States led by Pakistan are already using the wording of this Irish law to promote new blasphemy laws at UN level.

We believe in the golden rule: that we have a right to be treated justly, and that we have a responsibility to treat other people justly. Blasphemy laws are unjust: they silence people in order to protect ideas. In a civilised society, people have a right to to express and to hear ideas about religion even if other people find those ideas to be outrageous.

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1. Ireland Enacts Blasphemy Law
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3. What Do the State Blasphemy Laws Actually Say?
4. Dangerous Speech – A Social History of Blasphemy in Colonial Mexico
5. Religious News Verses – Blasphemy, Cheerleaders for the Bible, and Health Care That Favors the Religious
6. Catholic Church Being Called to Task in Producing Clergy Abuse Details in the US and Ireland
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8. Ireland: Shocking Religious Abuse Stories Emerge in 5-Volume Report
9. Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement
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