Blasphemy

Blasphemy is the defamation of the name of God. These may include using sacred names as stress expletives without intention to pray or speak of sacred matters. Sometimes blasphemy is used loosely to mean any profane language, for example in "With much hammering and blasphemy, the locomotive's replacement spring was finally fitted."

In this broader sense the term is used by Sir Francis Bacon in the Advancement of Learning, when he speaks of "blasphemy against learning". Many cultures disapprove of speech or writing which defames the God or gods of their established religions, and these restrictions have the force of law in some countries.

Blasphemy laws

There has been a recent tendency in Western countries towards the repeal or reform of blasphemy laws, and these laws are only infrequently enforced where they exist. Blasphemy laws - nowadays often altered to include blasphemy regardless of religion - still exist in several countries, such as in:

Austria (Articles 188, 189 of the penal code)
Finland (Section 10 of chapter 17 of the penal code)
- Unsuccessful attempts were made to rescind the law in 1914, 1917, 1965, 1970 and 1998.
Germany (Article 166 of the penal code, see also the Manfred van H. case)
Ireland (See: Irish Constitution)
The Netherlands (Article 147 of the penal code)
New Zealand (Section 123 of the Crimes Act 1961)
Spain (Article 525 of the penal code)
Switzerland (Article 261 of the penal code)
The United Kingdom

The United States

In the United States, the First Amendment guarantees a relatively unlimited right of free speech, although some US states still have blasphemy laws on the books. Chapter 272 of the Massachusetts General Laws states, for example:

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.

The history of Maryland's blasphemy statutes suggests that even into the 1930s, the First Amendment was not recognized as preventing states from passing such laws. An 1879 codification of Maryland statutes prohibited blasphemy:

Art. 72, sec. 189If any person, by writing or speaking, shall blaspheme or curse God, or shall write or utter any profane words of and concerning our Saviour, Jesus Christ, or of and concerning the Trinity, or any of the persons thereof, he shall, on conviction, be fined not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned as aforesaid, at the discretion of the court.

According to the marginalia, this statute was adopted in 1819, and a similar law dates back to 1723. In 1904, the statute was still on the books at Art. 27, sec. 20, unaltered in text. As late as 1939, this statute was still the law of Maryland.[http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000379/html/am379--1100.html It is unclear from the statutes and notes when Maryland's blasphemy statute was last prosecuted.

However, the US Supreme Court in Joseph Burstyn, Inc v Wilson 1952 held that the New York State blasphemy law was an unconstitutional prior restraint on freedom of speech. The court stated that "It is not the business of government in our nation to suppress real or imagined attacks upon a particular religious doctrine, whether they appear in publications, speeches or motion pictures."

The last person to be jailed in the United States for blasphemy was Abner Kneeland in 1838, as decided by the Massachusetts case Commonwealth v. Kneeland.

Pakistan

Among Muslim-majority countries, Pakistan has the harshest anti-blasphemy law. In 1982, President Zia ul-Haq introduced Section 295B to the Pakistan Penal Code punishing "defiling the Holy Qur'an" with life imprisonment. In 1986, Section 295C was introduced, mandating the death penalty for "use of derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet".

In 1990 the Federal Shari’ah Court ruled that the penalty should be a mandatory death sentence, with no right to reprieve or pardon. This is binding, but the government is yet to formally amend the law, which means that the provision for life sentence still formally exists, and is used by the government as a concession to critics of the death penalty. In 2004, the Pakistani parliament approved a law to reduce the scope of the blasphemy laws. The amendment to the law means that police officials will have to investigate accusations of blasphemy to ensure that they are well founded, before presenting criminal charges.

However, the law is used against political adversaries or personal enemies, by Muslim fundamentalists against Christians, Hindus and Sikhs, or for personal revenge. Especially Ahmadi-muslims are victim of the blasphemy-law. They claim to be muslims themselves, but under the blasphemy-law, they are not allowed to use islamic vocabulary or rituals.

The Pakistani Catholic bishops' Justice and Peace Commission complained in July 2005 that since 1988, some 650 people had been falsely accused and arrested under the blasphemy law. Moreover, over the same period, some 20 people accused of the same offense had been killed. As of July 2005, 80 Christians were in prison accused of blasphemy.

Christians in Pakistan protested Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code as blasphemous, with support of Muslims as well. On 3 June, 2006, Pakistan banned the film. Culture Minister Gulab Jamal Gandoo said: "Islam teaches us to respect all the prophets of Allah Almighty and degradation of any prophet is tantamount to defamation of the rest."

Blasphemy in Christianity

Leviticus 24:16 states that those who speak blasphemy "shall surely be put to death".

Christian theology may condemn blasphemy, as in the Luke 12:10, where blaspheming the Holy Spirit is spoken of as unforgivable.

However, in the simpler message of the time of Jesus, when Christian ideas relied upon the influence of natural authority against the then secular religious power of the Second Jewish Temple period, (positions exchanged in the centuries that followed), this admonishment may be interpreted as warning against an actual reaction from the Holy Spirit in the form of a curse that can irreparably harm a person (and thus be unforgivable but not by dictate). This statement in effect establishes the importance of this aspect of the Godhead, rather than setting an arbitrary law.

A careful reading of Mark (from the American Standard) shows this: Mark 3:29 "But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." The more metaphysical aspects of early Christianity being now occluded by the dogma of secular religious authority.

The Catholic Encyclopedia has a more extensive article on blasphemy.

Blasphemy in Islam

Blasphemy in Islam constitutes speaking ill of Muhammad, of any other prophet mentioned in the Qur'an, or of any Biblical prophets. Speaking ill of Allah is also blasphemy. Blasphemy is considered a very serious offence and may be punishable by death if charges are proven. British author Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses was seen by many Muslims to contain blasphemies against Islam, and Iranian clerical leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for Rushdie's death. More recently, the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons were criticised in part on the basis that they were blasphemous against Muhamed. The Egyptian government under pressure by the parliament banned the film The Da Vinci Code and is to confiscate the novel for containg blasphemy.

References

External links and references

Maledicta: The International Journal of Verbal Aggression (ISSN US 0363-3659)
Freedom for Blasphemy and Apostasy Essay: If a dog barks at the sun will it affect the sun? If anyone blasphemes at god will it affect god?
Levy, L. Blasphemy. Chapel Hill, 1993.
Dartevelle, P., Denis, Ph., Robyn, J. (eds.). Blasphèmes et libertés. Paris: CERF, 1993

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