Blasphemy law is both stupid and dangerous
Date Published: {J}
Blasphemy is against the law in Ireland? Jesus Christ! This is so stupid it's not even funny. The justification is that the Constitution requires there be a law on the issue. But is this true? No it isn't. The word 'blasphemy' does not even appear in the Constitution. The argument seems to be based entirely on Article 44.1, which reads: The State acknowledges that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God. It shall hold His Name in reverence, and shall respect and honour religion.
The first sentence seems to say that the public must worship God – I look forward to the Government sending the army out to herd us into Mass – the second, that the State must be polite to religion. Fair enough; Church and State need to get along. What it does not say is that the citizen needs to be polite to religion!
And insanely, this law has been brought in as one on defamation. Defamation is telling lies about someone. Islam oppresses women. Did I just tell a lie there? Guess the court will have to rule on whether Islam actually does or does not oppress women – which will predictably lead to just the kind of trouble this law is apparently intended to prevent.
And if the truthfulness of the statement is not a defence (and this law is therefore not actually one of defamation) then there really is no defence at all – especially when you consider that it defines blasphemy as:
...publishing or uttering matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion...
Outrage is not measurable; the only criterion of whether or not someone is offended is how much they claim to be offended – so a prosecution brought under this law would seem unable to fail.
Another really objectionable aspect is that it is disingenuously couched in the language of equality and the protection of minorities. But it is already illegal in this country to make fun of or tell lies about someone's religion if you are doing it in order to oppress or intimidate. That's what our laws against incitement to hatred are for. This actually adds nothing to the protection of individuals, only to the protection of religious sentiment. Is that something law can protect in a free society? No, it isn't.
So why, when the Constitution does not clearly require it, are we getting a law that seems liked an unholy alliance between Catholic Conservatives and Islamic Extremists? Well as I've said before, it appears purposefully designed to prevent a 'Danish Cartoonist' situation happening here. If a political commentator or humorist says something about Islam, and some country takes offence, instead of saying "sorry but free speech is sacrosanct here," the Irish Government can now say "Oh as it happens, we have a law for that . . ."
There's a lot of money in the Middle East after all. Remember the Halal beef market? It would be very nice to win that back. All we need to sacrifice is our freedom.