Tags: blasphemy
Pakistani secularists condemn attacks on Christian community
Posted: Mon, 11 Mar 2013
Secularists in Pakistan have strongly condemned attacks on Christians in the country after mobs ransacked a Christian neighbourhood and torched dozens of homes over a blasphemy row in the city of Lahore. Read More »
OIC coming back with another attempt to stamp out free speech
Posted: Thu, 21 Feb 2013
Getting the go-ahead from the Cairo Islamic Summit, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has been actively trying to get the "denigration of religions" recognized as a criminal offence, according to a top official. Read More »
EU Commissioner says blasphemy laws are undesirable in the EU, but it’s up to individual states to decide whether they implement them
Posted: Thu, 17 Jan 2013
The EU Commissioner responsible for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, Vivianne Reding, has said that blasphemy laws and other such restrictions are not acceptable and pose a threat to free speech. Read More »
Kuwait introduces death penalty for ‘cursing God and prophets’
Posted: Wed, 12 Dec 2012
Kuwaiti MPs this week approved a law with a death penalty for Muslims who curse God, the Koran, all prophets and the wives of Islam's Prophet Mohammed. Non-Muslims who commit the same offence face a jail term of not less than 10 years, according to the bill. Read More »
New report shows widespread discrimination against people without religious belief
Posted: Wed, 12 Dec 2012
The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) has produced the first report focusing on how countries around the world discriminate against non-religious people. Read More »
New study of blasphemy law around the world
Posted: Wed, 05 Dec 2012
According to a Pew Forum study released last week, 8 out of 45 European countries have blasphemy laws on their books while 35 of them have laws against the defamation of religion in general or hate speech against members of a faith. Read More »
Netherlands to scrap blasphemy law
Posted: Fri, 30 Nov 2012
The Dutch parliament has accepted a motion that will abolish the law that makes it an offence to insult God. Supporters of the motion say that they are confident that they have enough support for it to pass easily. Read More »
New calls from Islamists for international blasphemy law at UN
Posted: Thu, 01 Nov 2012
Soon after the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) announced that it had abandoned its plans to persuade the UN to impose a global blasphemy law, the Arab League has stepped in to take up the cry. Read More »
Islamic bloc abandons plans for global blasphemy law at UN
Posted: Tue, 16 Oct 2012
The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation has revealed that it has abandoned plans to introduce a global blasphemy law through the United Nations. Read More »
Secularist students kicked out of Freshers’ Fayre for offending Muslims with pineapple labelled Mohammed
Posted: Thu, 04 Oct 2012
Students from the University of Reading Atheist, Humanist, and Secularist Society (RAHS) were forced to leave the Freshers' Fayre this week after they labelled a pineapple "Mohammed" and put it on their stall. Read More »
Blasphemy charge over Facebook page that mocked monk – sign the petition
Posted: Fri, 28 Sep 2012
A man in Greece has been charged with blasphemy after he made fun of a revered monk on his Facebook page. It is thought the arrest was brought due to agitation from the right-wing Golden Dawn political party.
Police allege the unnamed 27-year-old set up a Facebook... Read More »
UK signs agreement on “religious freedom” with OIC
Posted: Thu, 27 Sep 2012
Concerns have been raised by the National Secular Society that the UK's stance on free speech could be compromised by an agreement signed at the United Nations between this country and the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC). Read More »
Council of Ex-Muslims: Islam documentary must be shown
Posted: Sat, 15 Sep 2012
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) is calling for Tom Holland's Channel 4 documentary Islam: The Untold Story to have a repeat showing, after the broadcaster cancelled it following threats and menaces from Islamists. Read More »
More religious censorship from advertising watchdog
Posted: Fri, 17 Aug 2012
The Advertising Standards Authority is once again acting as blasphemy-finder-in-chief as it bans yet another advertisement that it has decided is "likely to cause serious offence" – this time to Sikhs. Read More »
European Humanist Federation: "Greece must abolish blasphemy laws"
Posted: Tue, 24 Jul 2012
The European Humanist Federation, to which the National Secular Society is affiliated, has protested to the Greek Justice Minister about the arrest of three actors on charges of blasphemy. Read More »
Religious threats to free speech in Britain and Poland
Posted: Tue, 19 Jun 2012
A man in Boston, Lincolnshire has been warned by the police that if he puts up a small poster in his window that says "religions are fairy stories for adults" he could face arrest. Meanwhile, in Poland a popular singer known as Doda has lost an appeal over "offending the religious feelings". Read More »
Advertising watchdog accused of inconsistency over ads featuring religious imagery
Posted: Wed, 30 May 2012
The National Secular Society has accused the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of being inconsistent in dealing with complaints about ads using religious imagery after the watchdog cleared an advertisement that appeared to mock Jesus' second coming but had previously banned adverts for ice cream featuring a pregnant nun and apparently gay priests. Read More »
Kuwait must not impose death penalty for blasphemy, says Amnesty
Posted: Thu, 19 Apr 2012
A proposed legal amendment that would make blasphemy a crime punishable by death in Kuwait would be a massive step backwards by the country's authorities, if passed by parliament, Amnesty International have said. Read More »
Dutch liberals drop support for abolition of blasphemy law
Posted: Thu, 19 Apr 2012
A fundamentalist Christian political party is holding the Dutch Parliament to ransom as it forces a backtracking on the abolition of blasphemy laws. Read More »
London School of Economics brings back blasphemy
Posted: Mon, 30 Jan 2012
The London School of Economics Students' Union has effectively made blasphemy an offence following protests from Muslim students about a Jesus and Mo cartoon posted on the Atheist Secular Humanist student group's Facebook page. Read More »
