Category Archives: blasphemy

Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ blasphemy

February 26, 2020 – 8:00 am

Today’s Jesus and Mo strip, called “lazy,” came with an email comment: God used to intervene a lot more than he does nowadays, doesn’t he? The country they refer to is certainly Ireland, where, in a 2017 referendum, the voters decisively rejected the nation’s blasphemy law, and that abolition finally took effect on January 1 […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in Jesus and Mo | Comments (14)

Spanish actor tried for blasphemy

February 17, 2020 – 9:15 am

We often forget that many countries still have laws on the books against blasphemy, i.e., insulting religion. Some such countries are surprising as we’d consider them “progressive” in many ways. As I wrote in my foreword to the new Jesus and Mo collection: . . . despite the value of constructive blasphemy, 69 of the […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in freedom of expression, freedom of speech | Comments (30)

Ireland’s blasphemy law rescinded

January 4, 2020 – 11:00 am

There is no rational excuse to have blasphemy laws on the books anywhere, yet, as I wrote in my Jesus and Mo foreword, they’re prevalent: 69 of the world’s 195 countries have laws on the books against [blasphemy], though in places the laws are vestigial and unenforced relics of an earlier time. But you can […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in freedom of expression, freedom of speech | Comments (45)

Pakistani lecturer sentenced to death for blasphemy: insulted the Prophet and Qur’an on Facebook

December 21, 2019 – 10:30 am

Blasphemy laws should simply not exist, for they penalize people specifically for giving offense to the religious. So they don’t just violate freedom of speech, but they specifically immunize religion against mockery, analysis, and criticism. Here’s a brief segment from my Jesus and Mo foreword to show how prevalent these laws are: 69 of the […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in Muslims behaving badly | Comments (41)

Two UConn students arrested for shouting racial slurs, violating a Connecticut “anti-ridicule” law

October 27, 2019 – 9:00 am

This piece in the New York Times reports that two University of Connecticut students were arrested, apparently by campus police, after shouting racial slurs outside a university dormitory. They were charged with violating a state law that prohibits ridiculing individuals based on “creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race” (see below) Here’s the video, which […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in First Amendment, freedom of expression, freedom of speech | Comments (17)

Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ blasphemy

September 25, 2019 – 8:30 am

Today’s Jesus and Mo strip, called “wit”, reminds us that next Monday is International Blasphemy Day. Jesus and Mo try to hoist us with our own petard, but seriously, who has killed somebody because they deny the Big Bang or the truth of evolution? I can’t think of a single killing on these grounds.  

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in Jesus and Mo | Comments (6)

Once again I’m censored in Pakistan

June 21, 2019 – 3:00 pm

I’ve lost count of the number of times that WordPress has censored part of my site because I committed blasphemy and “hurt religious sentiments”—of Muslims, of course. Usually it’s because I post a Jesus and Mo cartoon and, sure enough, here’s the offending cartoon (which of course will get me censored again): The letter from […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in Jesus and Mo | Comments (22)

WordPress once again helps the Pakistani government block my “blasphemous” Jesus and Mo posts

May 20, 2019 – 10:30 am

I think this must be the third time that WordPress has cooperated with the Pakistani government in blocking “blasphemous” content on my site. The blasphemy, as you’ll see from the three links singled out, involves reproducing Jesus and Mo cartoons, which have apparently hurt the feelings of Muslims. Indeed, I seem to have committed a […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in censorship, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, Muslims behaving badly | Comments (28)

Asia Bibi finally leaves Pakistan—for Canada

May 8, 2019 – 11:45 am

I’ve written quite a lot about the case of Asia Bibi, whose real name is Aasiya Noreen (see my list of posts here). She’s a Pakistani Christian woman who was convicted of blasphemy against Islam under trumped-up charges. She then spent eight years in solitary confinement (blasphemy is a capital crime in Pakistan). Last year, […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Comments (45)

WordPress and the Pakistani government censor my site again, removing a “blasphemous” quote—from the Qur’an!

April 20, 2019 – 10:30 am

This is the third time I’ve gotten an email from WordPress telling me that, at the behest of the censorious and easily offended Pakistani government, they’ve blocked some of the content of my site from that country. The curious thing is that what they blocked—on the grounds of blasphemy—is a quote from the Qur’an! And, […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in censorship, Muslims behaving badly | Comments (47)