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Ireland's Blasphemy Law Goes Into Effect
stereoroid writes "As of January 1, it is a crime in Ireland to commit Blasphemy. The law was changed in July 2009 to fill a gap in the Irish Constitution, which states that it is a crime but does not define what it is, an omission highlighted in a Supreme Court decision in 1999. To mark the occasion, Atheist Ireland published a list of 25 blasphemous quotations on the blasphemy.ie website, from such controversial figures as Bjork, Frank Zappa, Richard Dawkins, Randy Newman, and Pope Benedict XVI. (The last-mentioned was quoting a 14th Century Byzantine Emperor, but that's no excuse.)"
fuck catholics, fuck protestants, fuck jews, fuck muslims
... I don't care about Gods, but this is a weird thing, trepassing the censorship line (in my opinion).
So: Fuck that Irish law and fuck that Irish fucking God (I apologize for the inconvenience, I'm just Breaking the Law ).
Atheism is a religion. Atheism has everything in common with other religions. Set beliefs, morality, purpose in life, etc. Agnosticism is not a religion because it has no definite beliefs, morality or purpose. Atheism does.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Luckily, raping altar boys is arguably nonblasphemous, so this shouldn't affect business as usual too much.
Holy shit!
This ain't rocket surgery.
This is one of occasions where the French have it about right, they have separation of church and state. They do not even allow religion in schools in any form. I don't understand why people think it is ok to force their beliefs on me.
I am all for the separation of church and state. I believe we should start with Saudi Arabia and Israel. But why should you not teach religion in schools? Belief systems are knowledge are they not?
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Religious fanatics misusing their powers to moderate...
atheism is more than simply lack of belief in a deity. consider some definitions:
atheism - assertion that no deity exists ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism )
agnostic - the existence of a deity is unknown and unknowable ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/agnosticism )
skeptic - i doubt there is a deity ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skepticism - see #3)
therefore, atheism != agnosticism && atheism != skepticism.
atheism is simply the assertion of a universal negative. such an assertion is both unproven and unprovable. therefore, atheism is a religion ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion - see #2 and #4). atheism is a religion of blind faith. the sooner mankind learns to accept it, the better off we'll all be.
While I am a Christian and do not accept atheism, agnosticism, or skepticism... I at least have more respect for an agnostic or skeptic. why? they are wise enough not to assert a universal negative, which is logically indefensible. I would still argue that an agnostic's claim can be disproved and that a skeptic's beliefs are unwise, but I can at least respect the wisdom not to make the leap to atheism.
And yes, I realize quite a large number of slashdotters do not believe in God, but before you post "yeah, but prove God exists," or "and do you belief in the tooth fairy, big foot, flying spaghetti monster, etc." please consider my argument. I did not say my post PROVES God exists, only that atheism CANNOT disprove it and is foolish to assert there is no deity. the positive argument/assertion for the existence of God is another post/discussion entirely. this post is merely to point out the fallacy of atheism as a doctrine.
It doesnt even do that. All that being an atheist requires is a lack of belief in god(s). Any further implications of this lack of belief vary between individuals. Many atheists share a pro scientific humanist philosophy (and perhaps you could consider humanism a religion) but that does not mean we all share a common belief in the goodness of humanity, or that all atheists think that the scientific method is a good form of inquiry.
Atheism is simply the lack of belief in a god, not necessarily the belief that there is no god.
There's a difference between teaching that God created everything in 4000 BC (or thereabouts) and including the historical aspect of religion and how it affected Europe.
[John]
Rather hard to teach the latter without the former. How can you teach how something affected Europe without teaching the something?
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
you aren' denying them their belief that drinking beer on sunday is a sin, your denying them the belief they get to control everyone in the name of god. subtle difference.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
Hm. I can understand religion denying the existence of life on other planets: the worth of objects decreases exponentially as they move away from what many religions consider to be the centre of the universe - the collection plate.
No, no sig. Really.
ThePromenader