Ireland

2010-01-04

The background to the Irish blasphemy laws: interview with Irish Times journalist

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

by Neil Godfrey

This is a follow up post to Atheist Group Breaks Blasphemy Law

There is an online interview with journalist Elaine Edwards from The Irish Times discussing the political and legal background to the new blasphemy laws in Ireland, and the response of Atheist Ireland.

One interesting detail is the the Minister of Justice has had the law framed in a way to make any prosecutions unlikely to succeed.

It’s about 8 minutes long and you need either Real Player or Windows Media Player.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/stories/2010/2784674.htm

Check the Atheist Ireland website for their list of 25 delicious blasphemous quotations from Jesus, Richard Dawkins, et al.

2010-01-02

Atheist Group Breaks Blasphemy Law

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

by Neil Godfrey

Atheist Ireland, a group representing atheists in the Irish Republic, has defied a new blasphemy law by publishing a series of quotes by writers Mark Twain and Salman Rushdie, Jesus Christ, the Prophet Mohammed and Pope Benedict.

Check out more details on the BBC news site: Irish Atheists Challenge Blasphemy Law.

Atheists Ireland says:

From today, 1 January 2010, the new Irish blasphemy law becomes operational, and we begin our campaign to have it repealed. Blasphemy is now a crime punishable by a €25,000 fine.

In response, we have published a list of 25 blasphemous quotes, which have previously been published by or uttered by or attributed to Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Mark Twain, . . . . . Rev Ian Paisley, . . . . Pope Benedict XVI, . . . . .

Irish atheists challenge new law (news.bbc.co.uk)
Irish atheists use Bjork, Mark Twain to challenge blasphemy law (cnn.com)
Irish atheists test blasphemy laws (guardian.co.uk)

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Austendw on Samaria in the Persian Period: “What is also interesting is the way that the lampstand in the tabernacle (Ex 25:31-36), with its branches and almond…” Apr 17, 17:30
Neil Godfrey on Questioning the Hellenistic Date for the Hebrew Bible — continuing: “I cited it for the reason I stated. Now you happen to raise an old canard. When you find an…” Apr 16, 21:02
Roger Crew on Questioning the Hellenistic Date for the Hebrew Bible — continuing: “so,… I read the Armgardt paper (I was curious about what it was that actually went wrong in the study…” Apr 16, 08:51
Neil Godfrey on Samaria in the Persian Period: “Well I sure overlooked that one, didn’t I! Thank you for adding this to the post.” Apr 15, 21:48
Neil Godfrey on Judah and Samaria in Persian Times — the Evidence (and a way out of a quandary): “My reading of Reed in Demons, Angels and Writing in Ancient Judaism and her many references (in particular Collins and…” Apr 15, 21:43
Russell Gmirkin on Samaria in the Persian Period: “What I find fascinating is the likely depiction of an asherah on a fourth century BCE coin from Samaria, as…” Apr 15, 12:03
Paul Trejo on Judah and Samaria in Persian Times — the Evidence (and a way out of a quandary): “Kudos, Neil, for your continuing research into a long-neglected field. What your sources have admitted — however small and speculative…” Apr 14, 21:41
James Faubel on No Evidence Jerusalem/Judea had a “Writing Culture” in Persian times — Israel Finkelstein: “It’s true that “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” but it is also true that “absence of evidence…” Apr 14, 17:58
Neil Godfrey on Questioning the Hellenistic Date for the Hebrew Bible: Elephantine ‘Jews’: “In short, “Judaism” as we understand it was an “exclusivist” type of religion that identified itself as in major ways…” Apr 13, 23:09

Tag: Ireland

2010-01-04

The background to the Irish blasphemy laws: interview with Irish Times journalist

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

by Neil Godfrey

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2010-01-02

Atheist Group Breaks Blasphemy Law

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

by Neil Godfrey

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