Very informative article.

It's alarming that, in a liberal democracy, in the 21st century this question still is a subject of debate, blasphemy laws are are violation of free speech and inimical to liberty.
As usual a problem is the 'useful idiots' like Burnside and Keneally who are deluded into thinking that in supporting the Moslem theocratic agenda they are protecting their own pet ideologies, the reality is that the Islamic crocodile will just eat them last.

I really envy the Americans with their constitutional protection for free speech.

Quote:
Yassmin Abdel-Magied pointed out that freedom of speech is established
by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, though when an insult
was aimed to incite hatred, it moved out of the realm of free speech.

Everyone seems to have missed that the Islamic countries rejected the
United Nations Declaration on Human Rights.
They cooked up their own version known as the Cairo Declaration of
Human Rights.

Basically it is anti democratic and imposes sharia law instead.

When it comes to blasphemy, I think God is quite capable of looking after him/her/itself.
If the laws are to be brought back then perhaps the tradition of stoning should also be re-introduced as a fitting punishment.

The term is really about how it offends the personal beliefs of others and is entirely in the "eye of the beholder".

What is seen as mere criticism by some becomes a horrendous crime by others but without a first-hand complainant, it's an example of a victimless crime.

Yuyutsu,

Most atheists use their reason, science and rational thinking in the service of explaining the universe, while religious people use the same for justifying their beliefs and prejudices.
Another difference is that arguments and evidence that don't support such beliefs are conveniently ignored or deliberately distorted to fit.

Dear Wobbles,

Woe unto those who require evidence to support their belief.

Why would anyone want to explain the universe unless they assigned importance to it? Religion tells us to set aside the illusory universe and its temptations. If belief in God's existence helps one to resist the world - well and good; but when that same belief causes one to look for God inside the world, then they are fools whose belief in God's existence lead them away from God.

As for ignoring inconvenient evidence, that is the norm in every university.