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Ireland Criminalizes Blasphemy
An anonymous reader writes "Another European country clamps down on free speech. From the article: 'It does seem bizarre that, in 2009, a modern European nation would seek to shield religious belief from criticism — yet that is what is happening in Ireland right now. In repealing the 1961 Defamation Act, the Irish government sought to expunge the worst excesses of Ireland's draconian laws restricting free speech, but in the process it has ended up making offending religious belief a criminal offence. Aside from a 25,000 fine (reduced from the 100,000 originally sought by the government), the new Defamation Act gives the authorities the power to stage raids on publishers: the courts may now issue a warrant authorising the police to enter, using "reasonable force," premises where they have grounds for believing there are copies of "blasphemous statements."'"
Ireland is a Catholic country. They are to some degree, still very strict. It's the only European country that has a law against abortion (on religious ground), I believe. The nurses and doctors are not allowed to give information about abortion, even, and England has an influx of Irish girls going over to get an abortion, despite the risk of going to jail.
Un paio di scarpe, per favore!
From the article, which is just one journalist's opinion:
It's like watching V for Vendetta in real life. 0.o
it gets worse
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/all-email-text-and-phone-records-to-be-kept-for-2-years-1820026.html
The records of every email, text and phone call will soon be kept to facilitate criminal investigations.
New laws will be published today obliging internet service providers to store data of email and website activity for a year.
All phone and text traffic from everyone in the country will also be stored for a two-year period.
The GardaÃ, the army and the Revenue Commissioners can access the information as part of investigations into serious crime.
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern says it will be well monitored.
âoeItâ(TM)s very important that the police are able to insist that the data be retained by the Internet companies so that they can prove cases against these people who peddle child porn,â Mr Ahern told RTE radio today as he published the Communications (Retention of Data) Bill.
The Bill implements an EU directive which brings Ireland into line with other EU member states.
Chapter 272: Section 36. Blasphemy Section 36. Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.
It's one of those old laws that's been in the books for years, but never removed. Someone could still be arrested and charged with blasphemy in Massachusetts (although that would probably cause a shitstorm of controversy these days), but the last time that happened was in 1838.
He was portrayed on a previous episode of the show however and there was no uproar until the danish cartoon thing happened.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Best_Friends
Well, it has never been successfully tested.
The literal translation is "The Soldiers of Destiny".
As an Irish man, may I just say this: fuck religion, and all its works.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
...Big Brother socialist
Lol...Socialists banning blasphemy? Do you seriously expect to be taken seriously?
Does "Religion is the opium of the people" ring any bell?
The Church has nothing to do and that's true. It is simply well known that the Irish society is "very" traditional (divorce was only introduced in the 90's). The leading party of the Irish government is Fianna FÃil. A liberal party. The rest of the coalition is composed by a green party and independents. There is no socialist party in the coalition AFAIK. Stop using Socialism like a buzzword to describe any political event in Europe. It is simply ridiculous.
Canadian Laws regarding "hate speech" have to do with inciting others to violence against any distinct group of people, whether they be gays, muslims or WASPs. Criticism in and of itself is not prohibited. For example:
"Go forth and kill all Pastafarians." This is iIllegal in both Canada and Ireland.
"All Pastafarians are idiots." This is legal in Canada, but illegal in Ireland.
IANAL and all that, but so far as I understand it, it is legal to criticize religious (or whatever) groups in Canada, but not legal to incite others to commit violence against them.
That sounds like a slight misinterpretation to me. According to Seciton 319 of the Criminal Code:
In other words (as far as I understand it) "God condemns homosexuality", or even "I hate queers" likely won't get you prosecuted, but "We should be stoning fags" would. The key parts are that the statements must be public and be likely to disturb the peace.
The new Irish law targets blasphemy, which (according to the Irish Times) is defined as
So the Canadian law is about attempting to incite action against any identifiable group, the Irish blasphemy law is criminalizing saying things religious organizations find offensive. I think this is a significant difference, both in terms of what is illegal (an attempt to incite harm versus "outraging" someone) and in terms of who is protected (any identifiable group versus religious organizations.)
This is the voice of World Control. I bring you Peace.
"I believe it's unknowable whether there's a god or not"
This is the proper definition, as put forth by...
- Thomas Huxley. Y'know, the guy who invented the fucking word. ;)