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."'"

Comments

Re:It's so very odd.....

[jnaujok]

Except, if you RTFA, you'd find out that the Conservative parties are the ones who voted against the law, while the liberal, tree-huggers (Green Party) are the ones who voted for it.

Of course, that was after they defined Blasphemy as not having "artistic, social, or Academic Merit."

So, now they can actually claim that anything that goes against the "scientific consensus" view is Blasphemy and fine you E25,000. Takes care of that whole "global warming isn't happening" debate.

In the meantime, putting crucifixes in bottles of urine or dumping elephant dung on the Virgin Mary are both obviously steeped in artistic merit, so that's fine.

All Ireland has done is swap one set of religious zealots for a different set.