Quote Of The Day - Tristan Emmanuel

"In both Britain and Canada, for example, we still had blasphemy laws on the books no less then ten years ago. The penalties - the penal sanctions - were fines and possible imprisonment, not hangings and whippings, but this is beside the point. [snip] One can advocate for the law principle, while not advocating for a particular type of punishment, which historically was left to the discretion of the courts. At any rate you so-called Christians helped to prove my point perfectly. You do not care about God’s honour and yet you have the audacity to call yourselves Christians. Therefore I say again, America, and especially American Evangelicalism, is hanging on by a thin thread. Don’t be surprised if God sends an unlikely candidate to judge your lawless society." - Tristan Emmanuel, telling fellow Christians that God will smite them (or something) for denouncing last week's column in which he lamented that Bill Maher can't be punished for blasphemy. As for the atheists that reacted to that column, they are "children of the Devil" who are spreading the lie that Emmanuel wants Maher publicly whipped when really, just a nice long prison sentence would do.

Matt Barber's Website: Bill Maher Should Be Publicly Whipped For Blasphemy

"I think it’s time to bring back blasphemy laws. Bill Maher is known for being an offensive anti-Christian bigot. It’s his trademark. But this time he’s gone too far. He may have protection under the First Amendment to say whatever slanderous thing that comes out of his toilet bowl brain, but that does not mean Christians should turn the other cheek. Here is an example of how America once dealt with the likes of Bill Maher. 'By whipping; boaring thorow the tongue, with a red hot iron; or sitting upon the gallows with a rope about their neck; at the discretion of the court.' America is hanging on by a thin thread of long-suffering divine justice. The pugnacious degenerate Bill Maher may think blasphemy is a laughing matter. The nation of America may think it can hide behind the First Amendment. And Christians may falsely think they are demonstrating Christlike love by remaining quiet in the face of profligate profanity. But mark my word, a day of reckoning is coming." - Tristan Emmanuel, in a post on Matt Barber's website.

The post has rocketed around the net since yesterday.

Holland To Spike Blasphemy Law

Press TV has the story:

The Dutch parliament will approve a motion to abolish a law that criminalizes blasphemy, mainly due to strong support by the Liberal Party (VVD).  On Wednesday, a majority of parties in the Netherlands stated that the blasphemy law was no longer relevant in the 21st century. The VVD party had refused to support efforts to annul the law during the tenure of the previous government in order not to upset the fundamentalist Christian party SGP, whose support was necessary in the upper house of parliament.

The Christian-right party has denounced the decision, saying that it is a "painful loss of a moral anchor." It will still be illegal to insult the police or Queen Beatrix.

Irish Atheists Challenge Religious Blasphemy Law With Anti-Religion Posts

On Friday a new law went into effect in Ireland making it a crime if anyone "publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion." A blasphemy conviction can result in a fine of up to €25,000. Ireland's atheists aren't having it.

In a bid to demonstrate that the law is outdated and largely unenforceable, a group named Atheist Ireland published on its Web site on Friday 25 potentially blasphemous quotations from figures such as Jesus Christ, Muhammad, George Carlin, Pope Benedict XVI and Mark Twain, who opined in 1909: "When the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, adored Father of Man, goes to war, there is no limit. . . . He slays, slays, slays!"

"Two days ago, there was no question over whether these quotes were legal. Now there is a question, and that is very bizarre," Michael Nugent, the group's chairman, said in an interview Saturday. Blasphemy was already a criminal offense in Ireland under the country's 1937 constitution. But until now, the language had been too murky to make prosecutions feasible. In 1999, Ireland's Supreme Court dismissed the last case to test the law because blasphemy was not clearly defined.

A sampling from Atheist Ireland's 25 Blasphemous Quotations:

- Frank Zappa, 1989: “If you want to get together in any exclusive situation and have people love you, fine – but to hang all this desperate sociology on the idea of The Cloud-Guy who has The Big Book, who knows if you’ve been bad or good – and cares about any of it – to hang it all on that, folks, is the chimpanzee part of the brain working.”

- Bjork, 1995: “I do not believe in religion, but if I had to choose one it would be Buddhism. It seems more livable, closer to men… I’ve been reading about reincarnation, and the Buddhists say we come back as animals and they refer to them as lesser beings. Well, animals aren’t lesser beings, they’re just like us. So I say fuck the Buddhists.”

- George Carlin, 1999: “Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time! But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!”