Blasphemy in Ireland; The new law is a blow to humanism and secularism.

I was appalled when I heard about the new blasphemy law in Ireland. And here I thought, that despite the religiousness of a lot of Irish people, at least the government was secular. But I couldn't be more wrong. The new blasphemy law, fines anyone who blasphemes against christianity with a 25.000 (twenty-five thousand) euros!

This is a very dangerous law. It is a law that brings Ireland back to the days of the Spanish Inquisition, back to the days when even saying that the Earth revolves around the Sun, was blasphemy. Where do you draw the line? Why is it that religions are the only ones to cry "Blasphemy" every time someone uses their critical thinking and logic to dismantle their irrational claims?

This is a law that limits individual freedoms, the right to free speech. People have a right to free speech, and if they want to blaspheme, that is their right! Why do the religious find it okay to bash homosexuals, for example? And then, they will find it blasphemous to reply to this hate-mongering? How about the oppression of women in many religions, including christianity? Would it be okay to say that in the Bible god is a misogynistic prick? Which is backed up by evidence, from the religious holy book? Or it will be considered blasphemous?

How many books and movies have blasphemy in it? A lot of them. And if fundamentalists have their way, even science will be affected by this irrational and dangerous law. Evolution is considered, only by the religious, and especially the fundamentalists, to be a controversial subject. That man evolved is considered blasphemy to the fundies, even though the scientific evidence for evolution is overwhelming. And that is only one of the sciences that can be affected by the law.

And what is next? Would teachers be affected in their teaching of evolution, of the Big Bang, of everything that is contradictory to the holy book of christianity?

Ireland is paving the way back to irrationality, dogmatism, oppression, through this law. Because blasphemy is one important stepping stone backwards to the time of the Middle Ages, and the times of the Spanish Inquisition.

As a response to the new law, the Irish Atheists have put up in their blog 25 blasphemous quotations from famous people, including Jesus Christ, and are asking for everyone's support so that the new law can be repelled:

25 Blasphemous Quotations