Apparently a new law is going to be proposed making blasphemy illegal. From the Irish Times article:
A NEW crime of blasphemous libel is to be proposed by the Minister for Justice in an amendment to the Defamation Bill, which will be discussed by the Oireachtas committee on justice today.
...Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern proposes to insert a new section into the Defamation Bill, stating: “A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,
“Blasphemous matter†is defined as matter “that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion; and he or she intends, by the publication of the matter concerned, to cause such
Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section, the court may issue a warrant authorising the Garda SÃochána to enter, if necessary using reasonable force, a premises where the member of the force has reasonable grounds for believing there are copies of the blasphemous statements in order to seize them.
People, do you know what this means? Do any of you ever say: "Oh, God," or "Jesus Christ!" when you're annoyed? Did you know that charismatic Christians consider that to be blasphemy? Did you know that under this new law you could be fined up to 100 000 euro if these Charismatic Christians decide to pull together and stamp out what offends them?
Fuck, can you even begin to imagine what a field day Muslims would have with this?
Let's put this a different way. I am an atheist. There is a book being circulated that encourages people to worship a deity that orders a litany of acts that make the holocaust look tame. If I find enough like-minded atheists to support my claim, under this law we would be able to have this book banned. What's it called? Why, it's the Bible.
Boo.
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Absolute wing-ding no-holds barred insanity if you ask me.
Boo hun...I think you should leave your first post as is...I'm with you all the way here...don't forget that in Ireland barrier contraception, the primary defence against STDs (other than abstention), is subject to full VAT.
On the subject of Islam, the Catholic and Muslim heirarchies have been forging close bonds over the past 15 to 20 years - I first found out about this when I worked in a Catholic 6th form college in Birmingham. At a time when fundamentalist religion of all breeds are gaining a much stronger foothold in political spheres what we need is moderation, not escalation. We are at a crisis point in world population - we can't feed so many of those already here, so how can it make sense to anyone to make birth control illegal or immoral - all that does is increase the misery quota across the globe. As Africans you will be well aware of the AIDS problem on that continent - for the leader of the largest religious group in the world to say that contraception is wrong isn't immoral or ignorant, it's plain criminal - anyone who puts dogma above human suffering should, in my opinion, be put up against the wall and shot - it's a crime against humanity and the planet.
I'm glad you brought this up, coz I don't really read the news much (way too depressing), and I'd probably have missed it.
As a final word I'd just like to say that although I too am an atheist I have no problems with anyones personal faith - what I take issue with is organised religion and it's continueing interferrance in political and societal issues, and it's insistance on imposing itself on those of us who choose not to believe in "god". Religion is, after all, an excercise in control (you will do this, you wont do that) by an unelected and unrepresentative minority e.g. the clergy.
I'm gonna stop now before I get into full flow and start to offend people.
andy
...Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern proposes to insert a new section into the [old and unenforcable because there is no legal definition for blasphemy] Defamation Bill, stating: “A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,
So thats how Cowen and the boys propose to ease the economic recession in Ireland...interesting.....
Personaly I have no problem with anyones religous beliefs, as long as they do not interfere with how others live their lives.
Sadly this is not the case in Ireland both North and South, Boo should have left her comments on Aherns attitude towrds homosexuality, it is mirrored here in the North by so called Christian political leaders..
Who can forget Iris Robinson using the bible to directly inform Homosexuals and Bi-sexuals that they are akin to child abusers.
Mrs Robinson should have been charged with inciting hate.
The Vatican and the present Pope should have been brought to task by world wide leaders over the apalling attempts to derail Health Agencies attempts in Africa to curtail the spread of HIV..
Interestingly he chose to make his comments onboard a plane, why not in front of the Worlds Press on the ground?..
Condoms and the use of save lives, this isn't about preventing pregnacy, it is about trying to stop the spread of HIV, no Church has the right to interfere in that..
Mind you these comments came from a man who in early 09 embraced a Bishop back into the fold who claims the holocaust didn't take place as there was not enough documented evidence.. and a man who knowingly hides notorious child abusers within the Vatican walls, simply because they are Priests!!!!!!!!!
Orgasminator
:Plet it be said that tusseys will be 1st up in court :smoke:fuck the pope fuck the queen fuck the muhammadans fuck the rabbis and fuck any other man made sky gods :sticky:
god dont get me started on religeon each to their own faith :smile2:well tussey ill be second in court :grin:fuck the pack of child abusers:wank: send them out foreign priests should be stoned for this and have the cheek to ask for forgiveness 
i told a priest on two occasions to fuck off and ive no regrets what bullshit comes from these 
saints i want to go to hell for a good reason :devil: but may they burn in hell 
i told a priest on two occasions to fuck off and ive no regrets what bullshit comes from these saints i want to go to hell for a good reason :devil: but may they burn in hell 
you me and tussey in the dock :devil:In the Irish Times today there's an article written by Ahern in which he defends his position. Andy, I also don't read newspapers, I heard of this through Pharyngula, PZ Myers' blog, and because I'm quite interested in this I used Google News this morning to see if there have been any developments.
THE 1961 Defamation Act provides that a person can be both fined and imprisoned for a maximum of seven years for the crime of blasphemous libel. The Government is moving to reform that Act, while respecting our Constitution, which requires that blasphemy must be punishable by law.
My intention is to remove the possibility of prison sentences and private prosecutions for blasphemy, currently provided for in Irish law. The only credible alternative to this move is a blasphemy referendum which I consider, in the current circumstances, a costly and unwarranted diversion.
On one hand, I can understand his position, but if his intention is merely to make an archaic law which should be removed harmless without the cost of a referendum, why impose such a massive fine? And why give the Gardai power to raid your premises if they suspect there's blasphemous material stored there?
If he really wanted to make the law harmless while avoiding the cost, why not make the maximum fine a small amount and not bring in powers given to the Guards?
Just wondering what the fuck he was thinking.
Boo
THE 1961 Defamation Act provides that a person can be both fined and imprisoned for a maximum of seven years for the crime of blasphemous libel. The Government is moving to reform that Act, while respecting our Constitution, which requires that blasphemy must be punishable by law.
My intention is to remove the possibility of prison sentences and private prosecutions for blasphemy, currently provided for in Irish law. The only credible alternative to this move is a blasphemy referendum which I consider, in the current circumstances, a costly and unwarranted diversion.
On one hand, I can understand his position, but if his intention is merely to make an archaic law which should be removed harmless without the cost of a referendum, why impose such a massive fine? And why give the Gardai power to raid your premises if they suspect there's blasphemous material stored there?
If he really wanted to make the law harmless while avoiding the cost, why not make the maximum fine a small amount and not bring in powers given to the Guards?
Just wondering what the fuck he was thinking.
Boo
