Over in secular Europe

razib — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:06:26 +0000

Irish atheists challenge new blasphemy laws:

Secular campaigners in the Irish Republic defied a strict new blasphemy law which came into force today by publishing a series of anti-religious quotations online and promising to fight the legislation in court.

The new law, which was passed in July, means that blasphemy in Ireland is now a crime punishable with a fine of up to â¬25,000 (Â£22,000).

It defines blasphemy as "publishing or uttering matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion, with some defences permitted".

The justice minister, Dermot Ahern, said that the law was necessary because while immigration had brought a growing diversity of religious faiths, the 1936 constitution extended the protection of belief only to Christians.

Speaking of religious diversity, over in Denmark, luckily an Attempt to Kill Danish Cartoonist Fails:

The police foiled an attempt to kill an artist who drew a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad that sparked outrage in the Muslim world, the head of Denmark's intelligence service said Saturday.

Jakob Scharf, who heads PET, the Danish intelligence service, said a 28-year-old Somalia man was armed with an ax and a knife when he tried to enter the home of the artist, Kurt Westergaard, in Aarhus on Friday evening.

Westergaard was home with his 5 year old granddaughter. It looks like the Danish People's Party might be subsidizing unhinged adherents of the Religion of Peace, because they're going to the primary beneficiaries of attempts to spread the barbaric mores of much of the Muslim world in regards to anti-religious expression to the civilized world.

razib Fri, 01/01/2010 - 18:06

Blasphemy

Over in secular Europe