Blasphemy

Blasphemy is an impious utterance or action concerning God, gods, goddesses, or sacred things. (The very definition of "sacred" implies that jokes against it are entirely off-limits, hence the massive taboo and the special term known as "blasphemy".) Frequently, the definition is extended to include anything which would be regarded as "bad language". The fact that those people who believe in punishing blasphemers also seem to believe that that which is insulted is so weak as to require being defended by mortals is lost on the majority of them.
Blasphemy is considered by some, namely its practitioners, to be nothing more than a thought-crime committed against a non-existent entity (who might not be worthy of respect even if it did exist). In places with strong religion-based law, however, blasphemy laws can be, and are, used against those who don't even subscribe to the beliefs being blasphemed against. One remorseful Pakistani boy made amends for unintentional blasphemy by cutting his own hand off.15-Year-Old Pakistani Boy Chops Off Own Hand to Prove He Really Loves GodPakistani boy cuts off own hand after blasphemy mistake: policeTeen Cuts Off Own Hand, Mistakenly Thought He Committed Blasphemy (Video)
The UN officially recognized the human right to blaspheme in General Comment No. 34 in late 2011.General Comment No. 34
==Blasphemy in modern law==
In the times of the Old Testament, blasphemy was punishable by death, and it used to be a criminal offense in many Western states. Although many of these laws may still exist on the statute books as technicalities, they are not now enforced, or at least not with any real punishment, in most western countries.Review of European blasphemy laws In the UK, the obsolete blasphemy law was repealed in 2008.UK repeal Blasphemy law. Side note: the law remained on the books in Scotland, but thanks to the nature of devolved powers, was unenforceable anyway; it was finally symbolically repealed in 2021. SomeIs The Blasphemy Law Going To Be Extended? National Secular Society. feel that the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 was put in place to replace it, but, importantly, the new act focuses on offences against people, not offences against God. This may be attributed to the actions of Stephen Green, who attempted to use the blasphemy laws against Jerry Springer: The Opera and brought attention to the fact that the UK had such an arcane law still on its books. 
However, blasphemy prosecutions do still occur throughout the world:
*The Austrian artist Gerhard Haderer created and published a satirical book about a cannabis-smoking, surfing Jesus. The book was published in Austria. He was subsequently tried in absentia for blasphemy in Greece and received a six-month sentence.Greece sentence artist to six months for blasphemy The sentence was revoked on appeal.
*The death penalty for blasphemy still exists in a number of Muslim countries, such as Iran,Iranian Christian pastor released from jail Guardian, Saturday 8 September 2012 10.59 EDT Pakistan,Pakistan death sentence for blasphemy against the prophet and Saudi Arabia.Saudi Arabian death sentence for blasphemy That's if you can even make it to a courtroom; a man in Pakistan was burned to death by a lynch mob for allegedly burning the Qur'an.Pakistan mob burns man to death for 'blasphemy', BBC News In a classic episode of one act of vicious stupidity possibly following another, a girl from the country's Christian minority was similarly threatened by a mob for burning pages of the Qur'an in order to start a cooking fire; the girl may also have Down syndrome.Girl held in Pakistan, accused of burning Quran, cnn.com It turns out, however, that she was by a local imam for the crime;Imam Arrested for Framing Girl for Blasphemy, Dispatches from the Culture Wars this eventually resulted in the imam's arrest and the blasphemy charges being dropped.Pakistan Drops Blasphemy Case Against Rimsha, Dispatches from the Culture Wars
*Even before the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan, blasphemy was a capital offense. In January 2008, Sayed Pervez Kambaksh was sentenced to death for blasphemy after a five-minute trial. This followed reports that he had downloaded from the internet un-Islamic material on women's rights.Afghanistan blasphemy death sentence 
*Indonesia is a little more liberal: you only get a four-year jail sentence there.Indonesia — four years in jail for blasphemy
*In potential EU member Turkey, Islamic creationist Harun Yahya succeeded in getting Richard Dawkins' website banned on account of its alleged blasphemous content.Turkey silences Dawkins
*Ireland, not wanting to be seen as being backward, criminalised blasphemy in 2009.Irish Times: Blasphemy law a return to middle ages — Dawkins A referendum is expected over whether to keep the law.Ireland set to call referendum on blasphemy laws
*In Russia, three members of the punk band Pussy Riot were arrested and charged with "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility" when their performance of a profanity-laced anti-Putin song inside Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow angered both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Putin government. The band was subsequently sentenced to two years in a prison colony for this "crime".Pussy Riot sentenced to two years in prison colony over anti-Putin protest, The Guardian Eventually, band member Yekaterina Samutsevich was released on appeal after serving six months; the other two members remain behind bars.Pussy Riot member freed after Moscow court appeal, The Guardian online
*In Mumbai, India, skeptic Sanal Edamaruku faced blasphemy charges after he debunked a "weeping crucifix" phenomenon at the Church of Our Lady of Velankanni.Indian skeptic charged with "blasphemy" for revealing secret behind "miracle" of weeping cross, Boing Boing He is temporarily living in Finland while his lawyers file appeals concerning various aspects of the case.Sanal Edamaruku: an update, New Humanist Blog
*In Greece, Greek blogger Filippos Loizos received a 10-month jail sentence suspended for three years for running a satirical Facebook page called "Elder Pastitsios". The page name was a pun using a known Greek pasta dish "pastitsio" — a reference to Pastafarianism — and a now deceased Greek-Orthodox Athos monk's name "Elder Paisios", considered by some as a "miracle worker" and a "prophet". The authorities arrested Loizos at his house in 2012 on charges of “malicious blasphemy and insulting religion” through Facebook, after Christos Pappas, an MP for the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, tabled a question in Parliament complaining about the Facebook page where the administrator insults, mocks, and tries to humiliate the "sacred figure of Greek Orthodoxy", Elder Paisios.Blasphemy laws alive and well in Greece: satirical Facebook page leads to 10 month sentence for 27-year-oldThe Press Project
*In 2007, British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons was arrested and prosecuted in Sudan for an incident where her students named a teddy bear Gibbons used as a teaching tool "Muhammad" on account that it is a very common boy's name. Gibbons was ratted out by the school's office assistant who accused the teacher of breaking a long-standing taboo in Islam over depictions of Mohammed and other prophets, even though it was a schoolboy who innocently christened the bear by his own volition and neither he nor Gibbons intended to cause any offence. Despite reports of angry mobs demanding Gibbons's execution for what amounts to a trivial yet clearly overblown affair, even other Muslims themselves – including the boy's parents – expressed concern that Sudanese authorities (as well as the aforementioned mobs of protesters) have needlessly overreacted on the issue. Gibbons was since released and pardoned following international pressure.
*In 2010, the late Filipino performance artist and tour guide was arrested under Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code for disrupting an ecumenical meeting at the in 2010 by raising a "DAMASO!" placard and was quoted as saying "Stop getting involved in politics!" over the Catholic Church's interference in Philippine politics, specifically with the passage of the Tejero, Constatino C. (February 10, 2013). "Censored in the temple of the Lord: Who was Carlos Celdran, really?". Inquirer.net. Archived from the original on February 13, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2019. Celdran went on self-exile in Madrid, Spain after his conviction where he died in 2019. The incident galvanized the Reproductive Health Bill's author, Edcel Lagman, to file House Bill No. 5170 (or the "Carlos Celdran Bill") in Congress in an effort to repeal anti-blasphemy laws in the Catholic-majority Philippines.Lim Uy, Sasha (October 23, 2019). "Petition Launched for 'Carlos Celdran Bill'". Esquire. Philippines. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
*In another widely publicised incident in the Philippines, the drag queen elicited controversy in 2023 for their parodic depiction of Jesus Christ dancing to a remix of the Lord's Prayer, which led to knee-jerk reactions from church leaders and local government units who declared Luka persona non grata from their localities.Pura Luka Vega declared persona non grata in 11 localities While Luka initially dismissed the outrage and maintained that separation of church and state should be upheld, they were later arrested following a complaint by a Nazarene confraternity who took offence at Luka's performance as the Black Nazarene, an image of Jesus widely venerated in the Philippines."Pura Luka Vega arrested in Manila over 'Ama Namin' drag performance". Philippine Daily Inquirer. October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023. Luka's arrest was condemned by the Human Rights Watch, who opined that their arrest is in violation of free expression rights and that Philippine authorities should repeal or amend the laws in question.Thoreson, Ryan (October 5, 2023). "Philippine Drag Artist Arrested for 'Offending Religion'". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
*In what is perhaps another case of two fails coming together, a Filipino exorcist priest named Winston Cabading – of all people – was arrested for merely echoing what the Vatican themselves concluded in 1951 regarding the supposed apparition in Lipa, Batangas, following a complaint from Harriet Demetriou, a former Commission on Elections chair and retired judge. Cabading held an online conference discussing the supposed miraculous event in Lipa, sternly cautioning the Catholic laity about "how demons can appear to be holy", which Demetriou insinuated as being an oblique reference to the Mediatrix.Why an exorcist priest was arrested for ‘offending religious feelings’ The Regional Trial Court concluded in 2023 that Cabading did nothing wrong, as his statements were "not of his own but he was merely echoing what 'the Vatican said' or based on the dogma of the church."Navallo, Mike (September 4, 2023). "Court: No offense alleged in 'offending religious feelings' case vs exorcist priest". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved October 7, 2023. This, on top of the above-mentioned Celdran and Vega blasphemy incidents, further increased calls for blasphemy laws in the Philippines to be repealed as anathema to freedom of religion and dissent in the country.Cabristante, Raffy (May 30, 2023). "Calls to revoke religious feelings offense renewed after case vs. priest". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
The majority of countries in Latin America and Central America never had any form of blasphemy law. The same is true for a few Western European countries such as Portugal, Belgium, and Luxembourg, as well as the United States and the majority of Eastern and Central Europe. The Netherlands, Great Britain, and Iceland had blasphemy laws on the books, but the laws were successfully repealed. Blasphemers may still get into trouble due to other laws over desecrating venerated objects (USA) or inciting religious hatred (UK).
==Defamation of religion==
"Defamation of religion" is often a euphemism for blasphemy bandied about in an attempt to make said blasphemy seem culturally insensitive or otherwise politically incorrect.
===Origins and legitimate use===
The term is also used (properly, and not euphemistically) for speech which defames (in the ordinary sense of the word) an entire religion or its followers.
The best known example of that might be the infamous blood libels of medieval Europe. Indeed, "defamation" in regards to religion was originally used to counter antisemitism (see Anti-Defamation League). The talking point of the American right that "all Islam is radical Islam" could also fairly reasonably be lumped in this category, as could the claim that "all Muslims are terrorists."Virginia tries to out-Alabama Alabama
It differs from the concept of blasphemy in that blasphemy refers to any theological narrative that runs counter to one's own theological narrative. Blasphemy can refer to defamation, but is not necessarily defamation. The defamation of a religion is to misrepresent the beliefs or rituals of a religion in order to discredit the religion (i.e., blood libel). Is there potential for the abuse of the term in order to silence other points of view? Absolutely. However, the defamation of a religion is often a tool to advance the persecution of religious groups, particularly when religion is associated (implicitly or explicitly) with race. 
===Misuse===
The Organization of the Islamic Conference, acting through its specific members, regularly brings resolutions before the UN Human Rights Council condemning "defamation of religion". The term itself sounds fairly innocuous, and in fact at first blush, even appropriate; if we let those anti-religion types run around and bash religion, the reasoning goes, it will lead to all kinds of things like icky Nazis killing off Jews. So the UN tends (or tended) to support the resolutions. Recently, however, this support has been waning, perhaps because the Human Rights Council has finally taken the bother to notice that a person can still be executed for "defamation of religion" in the member nations of the OIC, including Pakistan. In short: in modern theocracies, "defamation of religion" is essentially the same as blasphemy.
Even in the USA, blasphemy can get a person into trouble. In Tennessee, a man is in jail after posting unspecified notes to church doors.TN Man Charged With Vandalism After Posting His Beliefs on Church Doors Ironically, Martin Luther (allegedly) did this to much greater (eventual) success (he still got excommunicated over it, though).
==Some blasphemy in the Bible==
*The Third of the Ten Commandments
*: "And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed. … And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death."
*: "And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die."
*: "… Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died."
*: "… And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."
*The Book of Revelation: a whole lot of blaspheming
==See also==
==External links==
*How to commit blasphemy in Pakistan
==Notes==
==References==
 
Category:Religious terms
Category:Political correctness
Category:Euphemisms
Category:Freedom of speech
Category:Religion
Category:Political terms
Category:International relations