Type Cultural | Date September 30 | |
Observed by Various countries, mostly European and North American - none officially Significance A day celebrating blasphemy (as defined in the various national, state or religious laws) Celebrations Educating about the importance of freedom of expression, even opinions contrary to religions or offensive to religious people Next time 30 September 2017 (2017-09-30) | ||
International Blasphemy Day encourages individuals and groups to openly express criticism of religion and blasphemy laws. It was founded in 2009 by the Center for Inquiry. A student contacted the Center for Inquiry in Amherst, New York to present the idea, which CFI then supported. Ronald Lindsay, president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry, said, regarding Blasphemy Day, "[W]e think religious beliefs should be subject to examination and criticism just as political beliefs are, but we have a taboo on religion", in an interview with CNN.
Contents
Events worldwide on the first annual Blasphemy Day in 2009 included an art exhibit in Washington, D.C. and a free speech festival in Los Angeles.
Intent
According to USA Today's interview with Justin Trottier, a Toronto coordinator of Blasphemy Day, "We're not seeking to offend, but if in the course of dialogue and debate, people become offended, that's not an issue for us. There is no human right not to be offended."
Origins
Blasphemy Day is celebrated on September 30 to coincide with the anniversary of the publication of satirical drawings of Muhammad in one of Denmark's newspapers, resulting in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. Although the caricatures of Muhammad caused some controversy within Denmark, especially among Muslims, it became a widespread furor after Muslim imams in several countries stirred up violent protests in which Danish embassies were firebombed and over 100 people killed.
Criminal punishment for blasphemy
In some countries, blasphemy is punishable by death, such as in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Saudi Arabia.
According to an analysis by the International Press Institute, as of 2015, at least fourteen member states of the European Union maintain criminal blasphemy or religious insult laws, which prohibit defamation of religions as such or their beliefs, practices and divinities. These are Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France (Alsace-Moselle region only), Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland only). Turkey also has similar laws.
In England and Wales, the common-law offences of "blasphemy" and "blasphemous libel" were abolished by section 79 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. The last blasphemous libel conviction in Britain had been against Gay News and its editor in 1977. The publication had published a metaphoric poem involving Jesus and homosexual acts. The editor's suspended prison sentence was quashed on appeal, but £1,500 in fines were upheld. See blasphemy law in the United Kingdom.
As of 2009, six U.S. states still had anti-blasphemy laws on their books: Massachusetts, Michigan, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming. These laws are unenforceable, however, because the U.S. Supreme Court, in Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495 (1952), found denying Americans the opportunity to view the short film The Miracle (deemed blasphemous by the censors) to be a denial of the freedom of religion, of speech and of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.