There's an ill wind in the air that should chill the blood of any thinking person: The odor of censorship based on "religious" sensitivities. The recent debacle in Ireland over "blasphemous libel" being criminalized there highlights this controversy and its odious implications. Although the Irish situation evidently is not what it seems—i.e., a return to the European Dark Ages, when the Catholic Church reigned supreme and terrorized non-believers into submission—the brouhaha does underscore a push in many parts of the world either to enact anti-blasphemy laws or to increase their scope.
While many have interpreted Ireland's insertion of an anti-blasphemy clause in a Defamation Bill recently passed by the Irish Parliament as a sign of such censorship, its authors claim it was designed to have the opposite effect, by making it virtually impossible or useless to prosecute such purported "crimes." As it turns out, the anti-blasphemy statute has been in the Irish Constitution for decades, as have other such laws in various Westerns countries, including the rest of the United Kingdom. Indeed, it was only in 2008 that these laws were overturned in Great Britain, where they had actually ensnared not a few people in prior centuries. In the 1820s, for example, popular Church of England minister Rev. Dr. Robert Taylor was imprisoned twice on blasphemy charges for preaching that Jesus Christ was a mythological figure based on numerous other gods, goddesses and heroes in the ancient world. His punishment was so infamous and egregious that Charles Darwin expressed concern about suffering the same fate for his writings on evolution. Yet, compared to past eras, Taylor got off lightly; indeed, when we hear of anti-blasphemy censorship, sinister images of the Inquisition immediately come to mind.
In spite of the fact that the Irish architects of this latest anti-blasphemy legislation apparently hope that it will never be used or successfully prosecuted, the sum effect is that, based on charges of "causing outrage" among the religiously sensitive, the Irish police can legally enter a suspect's house, arrest him and seize any offending material, including books, videos and audios, etc. Concerning the phrase "causing outrage," Irish Times writer Michael Nugent wryly remarks, "The problematic behaviour here is the outrage, not the expression of different beliefs." Moreover, under such a law, practically any book could be called "offensive," including the Bible, which possesses much offensive language about a wide variety of people, including non-Israelites, women and homosexuals.
The hijacking of the U.N.
This disturbing trend of anti-blasphemy censorship is epitomized by the passage—once again—in March 2009 of the "defamation of religion" ban by the Islamist-dominated United Nations "Human Rights" Council. Although this U.N. Resolution is "non-binding," and the words "defamation of religion" were removed from it in April 2009, freespeech watch groups fear that it is only a matter of time, in consideration of the increasing Islamist dominance, when it will become "binding." What such a development would mean is anybody's guess: In addition to "offensive" websites being shut down and bloggers being arrested—acts already occurring—will U.N. troops be allowed to enter into homes and seize "blasphemous" literature or worse?
Also, religion is not a "human" and as such does not possess any "human rights" that can be protected by the Human Rights Council. Indeed, "defamation" by its very definition involves a person, not an abstract concept like religion.
In addition, the fact that some of the worst offenders of human rights in the world hold the most sway over this council ranks as a black mark upon civilized society. In reality, the anti-defamation of religion resolution itself clearly violates the U.N.'s "Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
Under a "defamation of religion" ban, we would be forced to keep silent about the following atrocities and brutalities of religious fanaticism:
beheading
stonings
hangings
"honor" killings
limb amputations
torture
beatings
slavery
false imprisonment
genital mutilation
punishment for being raped
oppression of women, misogyny, sexism
child abuse and marriage
cruelty to animals
defamation of nonbelievers, including hate speech, personal attacks, calumny, slander, libel, insults
discrimination against nonbelievers
sleep deprivation
malnutrition
forced illiteracy
mind control
the stripping of basic human rights, etc.
The hate speech and insults, of course, come into play when nonbelievers are called "heathens," "heretics," "blasphemers," "sinners," "satanists," "infidels" and so on. The sleep deprivation rears its ugly head when people are forced out of slumber at various times of the day—as people sleep at different times, having diverse jobs—by loud and obnoxious noises designed to force them to pray.
What is "blasphemy?"
The philosophical and legal quagmire with such legislation centers around the definition of "blasphemy." Practically every religion, sect and cult possesses concepts that are blasphemous to another. As an important example, while Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, Muslims consider him a mere prophet, albeit an important one. Calling Christ the "Son of God," however, is viewed as "blasphemous" within Islam, as is not believing in Mohammed as Allah's final and most important prophet. Under such anti-blasphemy legislation, therefore, all Christian literature could be confiscated and Christians arrested, because at its very core, Christianity would represent "blasphemous material" that could cause—and has caused—outrage many times in the Muslim world, explaining in part why the Bible is banned in such fundamentalist Islamic countries as Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, the punishment for blasphemy according to the Koran includes death and maiming, as stated at Surah 5:33:
Those that make war against God and His apostle and spread disorder in the land shall be slain or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the land."
Obviously, many people would object strenuously that there is any relationship between God and all this bigotry, cruelty and gore—to suggest otherwise would be extremely offensive to them and cause them outrage. This notion of a violent, cruel and enslaving God who approves of such behavior would offend their religious sensibilities, leaving its purveyors themselves open to charges of "blasphemy."
Freedom of speech is vital to human civilization
In the end, we all must share this planet. Based on the recent stellar rise of the "New Atheism," it is clear that a significant segment of society fervently rejects religious doctrine that has caused an untold amount of misery and suffering. Yet, religious fanaticism continues to destroy humanity's civil rights with an endless string of atrocities.
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The passing of laws designed to remove the human right to honesty in protesting such oppression and carnage represents an atrocious miscarriage of justice that belongs to the Dark Ages, when men and women were jailed, tortured and murdered for not following what was repulsive to their innate sense of morality and decency.
People of conscience and clarity—not blinded by unscientific and uncritical religious beliefs—must be free to object and criticize oppressive and brutal religious practices, or we as a species will lose our integrity and our collective soul—and that terrible spiritual loss will represent the real "defamation of religion."
Comments
As the fastest growing religion on the planet, Pastafarians intend to use this blasphemy law in Ireland to put a stop to the word "potato" being used in public. It's a blasphemy to utter the names of alternate sources of carbohydrate in their religion.
Sadly it wont work as the law is intended to protect Abrahamic religion and no other.
The religious are all for free speech as long as it's theirs. When a person stands up and says "excuse me, you're wrong" they are branded a heretic and dealt with based on their distorted concept of reality. They will fight tooth and nail for their right to speak, but not yours. Once in power, they will resort to the most vile methods of control, and the innocents will be killed by their weapons of righteousness. D.M. Murdock identifies this double standard in her article, and it will perhaps create some gnashing of teeth among the religious zealots. To paraphrase the bible, "by their fruits you will know them." Fruits of intolerance, hatred, and cruelty.
I would have no objection to the blasphemy law with the condition that third-party filings are not permitted. That is to say, the offended deity must make the complaint.
If I were to libel Bono of U2 I would expect the litigation to come from him or his duly appointed legal counsel. Not from his fan club.
Great Comments!
Has the "free speech clause" been lifted from the Constitution while I was talking with the Secret Chiefs?
Winston Smith and his oppressors are with us now.
Pathetically humorous that some might think that the word is the thing. That god is knowable, and they've got the ONLY hot line.
There is more available on line regarding wisdom than EVER before.
HEY! I've got an idea! Let's start our own religion!
Hmmm, well, maybe not - it's been done to death already.
As a noted televangelist has been quoted as saying: "Keep those checks and cash flowing in now so God doesn't call me before my time."
Cheers.
Meru
Isn't it sad that, despite our increased knowledge over the years, some still adhere to the myths and legends of ignorant Bronze Age desert-dwellers.
I cannot fathom why people seem reasonably intelligent for six days during the week, then revert to pagan superstitions every Sunday and call it "religion."
If these blasphemy laws have any teeth, surely it's a clear indication that church and state have joined hands rather than separated.
What a sorry state of affairs, where some knowingly and willingly go back two steps for every step they advance.
Is it so impossible for common sense to prevail over wishful thinking?
Yes, it is impossible, as long as people continue to allow Sunday schools to indoctrinate and brainwash their children.
That's where the answer lies!
How does that old saying go: "Give me a child until he is 7, and I will give you the man."
We are in the midst of a sweeping replacement of civil law (and court) systems with cannonical ones. The former was given to western civilization by Henry II, the latter is exemplefied by Thomas à Becket.
Civil law begins as common law. It is passed down on a case-by-case basis, by petit juries compromised entirely of "commoners." Their unanimous common-values rulings were written up by a judge, and for use as precedent for subsequent trials -- a principle called stare decisis. A very stable and open system of law and justice evolved, allowing western civilization to evolve without "Christianity."
Enter the fatcats and oligarchs. Take special prosecutor Ken Starr, dollboy of cannonical perversion. Clinton never walked into the oval office, dropped trou, announced his boredom, and started flagging it. Both sides of that charade were orchestrated -- part of a larger tectonic shift away from a civil court system, based on case law settled by juries of commoners and stare deci
Another excellent article.
God is a wise latina woman and I'll kill anyone who claims otherwise.
Long live the Quakers and the Pastafarians, though I hear diabetics are having issues with the Pastafarians.
Great post and comments. Particularly liked your friend's observations:
"... that it is intended to protect Abrahamic religion and no other. "
and
"...the offended deity must make the complaint."
Imagine Ganesha, the elephant head god rolling into World Court with his legal posse.
As he isn't part of the Bronze age thug club, the judge would say "Look you blue faced Indian long snout, suck it and be an man, or elephant man. We can't tie up the legal system with whiny Indian gods because you guys have thousands. And tell your Japanese friends , Shichi F'n whatever... to pile back into their love boat and row the hell out of here because this law is designed to protect the hurt feelings of only monotheistic desert gods. Or...ok... that three-way thing..."
I like Potty's idea! Let the specific deity his/herself bring the defacat...err defamation charge! Really, these legal-isms are a vulgar offense to me...a total Free Speecher. It's a defamation of my personal being in my relationship with the Spirit of the Cosmos. I call these weasel legalistic suppressions treacherous..Criminal offenses worthy of extreme punishment! Bound and gag the cretins who push for these and similar thought-speech supression laws under any guise. Religous or otherwise.
Great article showing the double-standards of hypocrites.
I love the Cranberries, but this on the other hand, is not one of Ireland's finer moments.
If they wanted to make it difficult to prosecute, why not just over turn the old blasphemy law completely.
Ireland is a cute little country, but if they want to pass stupid little laws, that's up to them. It's one reason why One World Government wouldn't work, you have too may different cultures and idiologies.
great article ! happy to see people like u acharya ! thanx a lot !
Thank you for another informative article to help us become more aware of the sinister stirring going on in the world soup.
Thanks to her vast culture and fine writing, Mrs. Murdoch puts the religious matter in the right perspective to understand where the problem comes from. Some people view themselves as predator and consider the rest of the world as valid prey. Whether they do it in the material or in the spiritual realm, it boils down to the same issue : some people decide, and the others better obey or else... Now, if the state and the religious authorities join ranks to bring the populations back in the fold, we free people need to educate one another and stop obeying false authorities.
Like it or not, all western nations were founded upon the principles of the Bible and not Bhagavad Gita,the Koran,or the oral traditions of Thor and Ordin or some imaginary Great White Spirit of the Native Americans. Get over it already. This world belongs to the God of the Bible who is the ONLY true god. Soon enough all of India,the Middle East,and Asia will have a Christian majority. Then the anti-Christ system will fail and Jesus will come down upon his white horse and will rule for a millinium. There will be peace and harmony allthroughout the planet. After that the Devil will wage war against God and Armegadon will begin.
Why is everyone so afraid of Christiantiy. Get a grip. Having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ brings joy to your heart and healing to the land. How often to do you hear of some New Age group gathering money up to help the poor in their own nations as well as abroad? What about Buddhist groups going around feeding the hungry,housing the homeless,and saving souls? What about the Hare Krishnas? Do they do this? I think not! Only those who follow Christ are doing this. You want to know why? Because Christiantiy is true and not false like these other religions and God is working through us to make this a better world. The only powers that might be working through the Hindus,the Buddhists,or some other whacked out group is probably one of the hundreds of demonic minions of Satan. Don't be decieved. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to God. Repent now while there is still a chance. To fail to do so means you will suffer eternity is excrutiating pain burning in the flames of damnation.
Lord, save us from your followers!
Amen!
Oh give me a freakin' break. These are the ones who are so judgmental towards the rest of us, but we can't so much as even question THEM ? I think it's time we did away with superstition altogether, and get back to the golden rule, just as it is, with no hokey spook-in-the-clouds scare story to keep stupid people compliant. It's time to grow UP and quit believing in fairy tales.
Roflmao! Carlos and Mischa...now that's hilarious. Great sense of humor!
"Like it or not, all western nations were founded upon the principles of the Bible"
Each "western nation" has a different history, constitution, and set of laws. So that is a ridiculously broad and inaccurate statement.
Also, please specify exactly. Which "biblical principles" they're founded on?
"Get over it already."
Get over it? I think you need to join the 21st century my friend, and "get over" the fact that one thing that separates "Western Nations" from Middle Eastern countries is that we are not a theocracy.
"This world belongs to the God of the Bible who is the ONLY true god."
Really? The BIBLE says the world belongs to Satan.
"Jesus will come down upon his white horse and will rule for a millinium."
Only 1,000 years? The earth if 4.5 billion years old, and Chris will only reign for 1000? We've already waited 2000 for him to return.
Also, Jesus will get his ass blown out of the air by anti-aircraft fire if he comes back riding a horse.
"Also, Jesus will get his ass blown out of the air by anti-aircraft fire if he comes back riding a horse."
LMAO! I guess ol' omniscient JC didn't have a clue that the horse wouldn't be the main means of transport by the time he returned!
High time to dump the Patriot Act...bring back the US Constitution....in its' entirety..
Mishca Pinkerton, you wonder why we are all so afraid of Christianity? Listen to your own words to us,"you will suffer eternity as excruciating pain burning in the flames of damnation." Think about who taught you to think this way. As little children, we all played together, never imagining how to torture souls with burns for all eternity. Imagine a children's burn ward in a hospital, and how all of the little ones suffer. Is that what you really want? Get some of D.M. Murdock's books and see where your religion came from. Don't let the abuse that you've received from your religion pass on to others. Return to the love that you experienced as a little child, and remember that we love you too. Throw away what makes you hate and love conditionally. It is only poison to your soul.
i suspect there is no god, no natural mechanism for life after death, but that the occupants of the UFO's are in fact us from the future using technology to transfer souls to clone vessels, and thus fulfil the ancient promise, in the grandest recycling scheme man ever embarked apon
Jesus = "jes us" or translation " just us"
A question: anyone here think that Saul/Paul and Josephus were one and the same person ?
If this god or christ or mohammed or what ever you want to call the little fairy in the sky was so "Loving, Kind, Forgiving etc" why does he/she allow this world to continue the way it is with all the torture, killing, starvation etc.instead of allowing us to live in peace? I say F$%# your JC. and get a real life. To answer all your "Christians doing good in the world philosophy, take a look at Kiva.org and see who is doing more. Case closed.
An article about censorship and got censored? Figures.
Another great article by DM Murdock aka Acharya S. Possibly the greatest "teacher" with us today.
Reply to Gary: In my ininformed opinion? Probability that Josephus' "alter ego" was the source behind the invention of the fictional Paul. I'm not an expert on this.
Josephus has a mysterious history of his own from Masada to Roman celebrity. he was in a position to secretly fabricate a Paul figure partially based on his character and position among the notables of Roman and Judaic origin.
I always wonder who was so knowlegeable about the Pharasiac traditions against which the Jesus character spoke as one who apparently knew of the 'secret tradtions of men' Someone knew those traditions well enought to put them into the mouth of a 'Messianic' figure as Jesus was represented to be.
He was a Pharisee..the separatist keeper of the Babylonian Talmud. He did what any good Talmudist would do, save his own skin, brown-nose to the victors and secretly set about creating fabrications which would come to rebound on the world as another form of Messianism having dualisic functions.
I have to agree with Mischa Pinkerton when she says why is everybody so afraid of christianity and that their is nothing wrong with a personal relationship with jesus. It like your imaginary friend that is backed up with such powerful and poignant stories and parabables, its like how could you lose?
The problem is not everybody makes it personal, in fact they flaunt there insecurity with it by trying to prove their conviction to others and ultimately themselves. What makes you think the power you are deriving from your worship could not be simply at the essence of us all only your deep seated love and affection for this mystical lord began with a fear from the unknown that you have befriended into a loving conviction, simply to satiate your own bouts with the consequences of doubt etc. What the thinker thinks, the prover proves. Dont fool yourself...but I must agree, things are always more progressive when one has faith in something. Its just sad that it requires an ancient motif.
Thanks for this article, and thanks for the "out loud" laughs that I experienced for reading some of these responses to religious commenters.
Religious anti-defamation laws indeed. We should all start contributing some of our spare time to the Venus project before we experience a modernized version of the dark ages.
Ahahaha-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!What else can I say??
Irelands not part of "the rest of the United kingdom", its a republic!!!!!!!!
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