In Ireland, the legislature there have just enacted a law which makes it illegal to say anything which someone of a religious nature might find offensive, and to make anyone guilty of such to pay a fine of up to 25,000 euros (about $35,000 US). I'd say, "Holy crap!", but that might get me fined.
In response to this, the organization Atheist Ireland have posted a list of 25 quotations which could potentially be construed as blasphemous under the new law. These quotes come from such diverse sources as the Christian Bible, Muhammad's Hadiths and assorted personages from George Carlin and Tom Lehrer to Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and various Irish governmental figures.
http://blog.atheist.ie/?p=104
Some of these I'd read before, but there were a few I didn't know about.
So this millennium is going to be one of religious bigotry and intolerance. Big step back to the dark ages for Ireland then, just when people were starting to say it was a great place to visit. Not any more!
ReplyDeleteCaroline xxx