Irish atheists challenge new blasphemy laws
January 2, 2010 by Infowars Ireland
Secular campaigners publish series of anti-religious quotes and say they will challenge law if charged with blasphemy.
Björk's comment on Buddhism has been included in the series of anti-religious quotes published by Atheist Ireland
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 €25,000 (£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.
But Atheist Ireland, a group that claims to represent the rights of atheists, responded to the new law by publishing 25 anti-religious quotations on its website, from figures including Richard Dawkins, Björk, Frank Zappa and the former Observer editor and Irish ex-minister Conor Cruise O’Brien.
Michael Nugent, the group’s chair, said that it would challenge the law through the courts if it were charged with blasphemy.
Nugent said: “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 express and to hear ideas about religion even if other people find those ideas to be outrageous.”
He said that despite the published quotations being abusive and insulting in relation to matters held sacred by various religions, Atheist Ireland “unreservedly support the right of these people to have published or uttered them, and we unreservedly support the right of any Irish citizen to make comparable statements about matters held sacred by any religion without fear of being criminalised, and without having to prove to a court that a reasonable person would find any particular value in the statement”.
Nugent said that the group would be prepared to take on the state if anyone complained about the quotes and that the campaign to repeal the law was part of a wider battle to create a more secular republic.
“You would think that after all the scandals the Catholic church endured in 2009 the introduction of a blasphemy law would be the last thing that the Irish state would be considering in terms of defending religion and its place in society. Read more…
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Recipe to Challenge the Blasphemy Law:
(1) Start with one fresh Lisbon “Treaty” (Yes, that’s right, their own laws!);
(2) Add a large portion of the Primacy Clause wherein the new EU Federal State is given primacy over the Irish Constitution by the Lisbon Treaty (Articles 1 and 47 Treaty on European Union– TEU – as amended by the Lisbon Treaty; Declaration 17A concerning Primacy);
(3) Add an equal portion of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides a right to freedom of expression across the 47 nations of the Council of Europe, including Ireland, and which the state is obliged to protect;
(4) Add a pinch of disgruntled native Irish men and women;
(5) Stir with the fact that the legally binding Articles arising from the European Convention on Human Rights in a post-Lisbon 2 Treaty Ireland are in fact, binding upon Ireland, since Ireland is now just a “member state” in a greater United States of Europe;
(6) Gently form a short, coherent grievance statement for the upcoming legal complaint against the Irish government as such: “Blasphemy laws silence people in order to protect ideas and thusly are inherently unjust rendering them a violation of human rights” (Of course, adjust wording to taste);
(7) Cook up a coalition, if possible, to muster as many dissidents as possible (It is noteworthy that anyone, including Muslims, can be fined under the law if they simply deny Jesus is the Messiah-which indeed, they must do if they are devout Muslims. Of course, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Atheists, Witches, Satanists, Animists, etc., could all be terribly persecuted by this “Blasphemy Law.” );
(8) Simmer until the mixture bubbles;
(9) Serve up multiple portions as needed in order to tie up (and screw) the Irish government for the next generation or two.
Now that’s a recipe. Don’t you love it? The Irish government screwed itself by pushing the Lisbon 2 “Treaty” and perhaps now the “Treaty”, among other things, can be used to screw the government with endless legal entanglements!
Bon Appetit!