So reports the AP: Ihsanoglu, whose organization represents 57 Muslim-majority countries, said they respect the right of freedom of expression, but believed a line had to be drawn at incitement. “We are not saying stop free speech. We are staying stop hate speech,” Ihsanoglu said. This further illustrates how vague and potentially broad the term […]
Archive | Blasphemy
Sales of Tickets for Jesus Christ Superstar Blocked by Russian City Government
RT.com reports: Rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar has been pulled before a performance in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don following complaints from Orthodox Christians. The believers claim the production is in breach of a controversial new religious offense law…. “In our view the image of Christ presented in the opera is incorrect. If they want […]
Muslim Rioters Burn Buddhist Temples and Homes in Bangladesh
The AP reports: Thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims angry over an alleged derogatory photo of the Islamic holy book Quran on Facebook set fires in at least 10 Buddhist temples and 40 homes near the southern border with Myanmar, authorities said Sunday…. [A police chief] said at least 20 people were injured in the attacks that […]
[UPDATE: Old News, It Turns Out] “When You Trivialise the Founding Acts of a Religion, When You Touch on Sacred Things,”
“you create an unbearable moral violence which is a danger to our children.” So said lawyer Thierry Massis, apparently in support of a French court decision to ban this ad: According to the BBC, the complaint was brought by the Catholic Church; the judge agreed, concluding that the ad was “a gratuitous and aggressive act […]
Blasphemy Prosecution
The International Business Times reports: A 27-year-old man was arrested in Greece for blasphemy against famous Greek monk, Elder Paisios, Business Insider reported. Paisios, an Orthodox monk from Cappadocia who died in 1994, was highly venerated in Greece and Russia, and formal canonisation as saint in the near future has been speculated. The unnamed suspect […]
U.N. Secretary General Argues That “Provok[ing] or Humiliat[ing] … Others’ Values and Beliefs” “Cannot Be Protected’ by the Freedom of Expression
From a Sept. 19 press conference by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: Q: On this issue of violence erupting after the controversial film, can you please speak to the argument of freedom of expression that has been raised too? There is obviously the agenda issue here at the United Nations of defamation of religion, and there […]
English Screening of “Islam: The Untold Story” Cancelled Because of Threats
From The Guardian (UK) (Sept. 11, 2012): Channel 4 has cited concerns over security as the reason for cancelling a planned screening at its headquarters this week of a documentary film questioning the origins of Islam. Islam: The Untold Story, which claimed there was little written contemporary evidence about the origin of the religion, sparked […]
“Charlie Hebdo Cartoons Spark Debate over Free Speech and Islamophobia”
That’s the headline (from the Washington Post blog) about the latest cartoon controversy involving the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, which just published more Mohammed cartoons. And it led me to this thought: Charlie Hebdo‘s editors are actually less fearful of extremist Muslims than most mainstream media is. If anything, the editors are not irrationally […]
Did a Justice Department Official “Refuse to Denounce Demands for Saudi-style Blasphemy Law”?
Several people have pointed me to a July 26, 2012 video excerpt of Rep. Trent Franks questioning Thomas Perez (the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division) about whether the Justice Department would commit to “never entertain or advance a proposal that criminalizes speech against any religion”; Perez, it was claimed, refused to commit […]
Government-Linked Iranian Foundation Raises Reward for Murder of Salman Rushdie
NBC News reports: “I am adding another $500,000 to the reward for killing Salman Rushdie, and anyone who carries out this sentence will receive the whole amount immediately,” said Hassan Sanei, the foundation’s head, in a statement carried by the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA). The reward offered by the state-linked foundation now stands at […]
Why Punishing Blasphemous Speech That Triggers Murderous Reactions Would Likely Lead to More Deaths
In recent days, I’ve heard various people calling for punishing the maker of Innocence of Muslims, and more broadly for suppressing such speech. During the Terry Jones planned Koran-burning controversy, I heard similar calls. Such expression leads to the deaths of people, including Americans. It worsens our relations with important foreign countries. It’s intended to […]
Administration Seeks to Have “Innocence of Muslims” Removed from YouTube
By Jonathan H. Adler on September 14, 2012 2:38 pm in "Hate Speech", Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs
The LA Times reports: Administration officials have asked YouTube to review a controversial video that many blame for spurring a wave of anti-American violence in the Middle East. The administration flagged the 14-minute “Innocence of Muslims” video and asked that YouTube evaluate it to determine whether it violates the site’s terms of service, officials said […]
Prof. Peter Spiro on Why “Hate Speech” Should Be “Ban[ned]” in the U.S. — and on How It Might Be Done, Using International Law
By Eugene Volokh on September 13, 2012 11:27 am in "Hate Speech", Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs
From yesterday’s Opinion Juris post by Prof. Peter Spiro, one of the leading international law scholars in the country: The deplorable killing of Chris Stevens in Libya suggests a foreign relations law rationale for banning hate speech. Remember, the Benghazi protests were prompted by this film depicting the prophet Mohammed in not very flattering terms. […]
Criminal Mockery of Islam?
By Eugene Volokh on September 12, 2012 6:52 pm in Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs, Religion
That’s what MSBNC contributors Mike Barnicle and Donny Deutsch, the University of Pennsylvania’s Prof. Anthea Butler (Religious Studies), and of course the Egyptian government argue with regard to the movie that mocks Mohammed: Prof. Butler: “Good Morning. How soon is Sam Bacile going to be in jail folks? I need him to go now.When Americans […]
German Court Refuses to Block Demonstration Displaying Caricatures of Mohammed
So report the AP and Agence France Press. The demonstration is being organized by (according to the AP) “the far-right ‘Citizens Movement — Pro Germany,” “under the slogan ‘Islam does not belong in Germany — stop Islamization.’” According to the AFP, the court reasoned that “the cartoons were protected as ‘artistic freedom’ and could not […]