Time to Outlaw Blasphemy laws
I believe in God. I do not believe in laws against blasphemy.
Ether there is a God, or there is not.
If there is no God, those who argue against religious faith are speaking the truth and those who mock the gods have not insulted a real person.
But if there is a God, He would have the power, if He chose to exercise it, to take far more terrible and effective vengeance against anyone who insults religion than any mortal man could even imagine, let alone carry out.
Furthermore, if God chooses to forgive people who have insulted him, what right has anyone else to take it on themselves to punish them?
So if there isn't a God, punishing those you think have committed blasphemy would be both wrong and evil.
But if there IS a God, punishing those who He has decided not to punish must therefore be both against His will, and evil.
Either way laws against blasphemy - provided we are only talking about disagreeing with or even mocking or insulting a religion, as opposed to inciting violence or hatred against the followers of that religion - have no place on the statute book of any civilized country.
And despite the tragic history of persecution by churches or theocratic states of those with different religious opinions, you can find plenty of passages which appear to support the views I have expressed above in both the Bible and the Qur'an.
Jesus famously told his disciples to turn the other cheek and to be "as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16).
Similarly Chapter 10, Verse 100 of the Qur’an, reads as follows:
Where blasphemy laws exist, they can all too easily give rise to open season against religious minorities of any kind, who can find themselves threatened with death for an alleged insult to the majority religion which may have little or no basis in fact.
The Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, which represents 56 Islamic states, has repeatedly tried to get United Nations support for an international measure to outlaw insults to religion.
It says that such a resolution would protect groups from discrimination.
Personally I think we should do exactly the opposite for precisely the same reason - the United Nations should encourage all member states with blasphemy laws to repeal them, because that is the best way to protect minority groups from discrimination and persecution.
I see that the BBC is reporting a secular, humanist group as campaigning for this, but it should not just be atheists who oppose the blasphemy laws and atheists alone will not win the battle.
Just as comedians, churches and atheists in this country recently came together in a successful campaign for free speech (the "http://reformsection5.org.uk/" or "Feel Free to insult me" campaign to abolish the former Section 5 of the Public Order Act which the coalition government removed from the statute book on 1st February 2014) I think it is high time for a broad-based international campaign to outlaw all blasphemy laws.
Ether there is a God, or there is not.
If there is no God, those who argue against religious faith are speaking the truth and those who mock the gods have not insulted a real person.
But if there is a God, He would have the power, if He chose to exercise it, to take far more terrible and effective vengeance against anyone who insults religion than any mortal man could even imagine, let alone carry out.
Furthermore, if God chooses to forgive people who have insulted him, what right has anyone else to take it on themselves to punish them?
So if there isn't a God, punishing those you think have committed blasphemy would be both wrong and evil.
But if there IS a God, punishing those who He has decided not to punish must therefore be both against His will, and evil.
Either way laws against blasphemy - provided we are only talking about disagreeing with or even mocking or insulting a religion, as opposed to inciting violence or hatred against the followers of that religion - have no place on the statute book of any civilized country.
And despite the tragic history of persecution by churches or theocratic states of those with different religious opinions, you can find plenty of passages which appear to support the views I have expressed above in both the Bible and the Qur'an.
Jesus famously told his disciples to turn the other cheek and to be "as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16).
Similarly Chapter 10, Verse 100 of the Qur’an, reads as follows:
“And if your Lord had enforced His will, surely, all who are on the earth would have believed together.
Will you, then, force men to become believers?”And Chapter 2, Verse 257, “There should be no compulsion in religion."
Where blasphemy laws exist, they can all too easily give rise to open season against religious minorities of any kind, who can find themselves threatened with death for an alleged insult to the majority religion which may have little or no basis in fact.
The Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, which represents 56 Islamic states, has repeatedly tried to get United Nations support for an international measure to outlaw insults to religion.
It says that such a resolution would protect groups from discrimination.
Personally I think we should do exactly the opposite for precisely the same reason - the United Nations should encourage all member states with blasphemy laws to repeal them, because that is the best way to protect minority groups from discrimination and persecution.
I see that the BBC is reporting a secular, humanist group as campaigning for this, but it should not just be atheists who oppose the blasphemy laws and atheists alone will not win the battle.
Just as comedians, churches and atheists in this country recently came together in a successful campaign for free speech (the "http://reformsection5.org.uk/" or "Feel Free to insult me" campaign to abolish the former Section 5 of the Public Order Act which the coalition government removed from the statute book on 1st February 2014) I think it is high time for a broad-based international campaign to outlaw all blasphemy laws.
Comments
Even the unofficial laws need to be scrapped. By unofficial laws i mean things like you can actually propose things to change the way the NHS works, including privatisation, and health insurance with out killing the "sacred cow".