A chara, – As an occasionally proud Irish person, I find the international coverage of the Stephen Fry blasphemy investigation an embarrassment to our country (News, May 8th).
Hopefully at the next Dáil prayer, our TDs may ask for the creator of the universe and its other 200 billion galaxies to not just guide them in their day at the office, but remind them that we now live in the 21st century .
A rational Government and a rational Constitution, it should be a no-brainer in this age of reason. – Yours, etc,
GARRETT CARR,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Multinational business, if you are looking to relocate somewhere post-Brexit, please come to our forward-thinking, western democracy. Unless you say something mean about the big man in the sky, because we have laws about that kind of thing. – Yours, etc,
DAVID CALLAGHAN,
Inverin,
Co Galway.
Sir, – Quasi-religious terms such as ” blasphemy ” and “sacrilege” are no more than human inventions, linguistic ruses intended to substantiate the illusion that the many hierarchical religions in the world have a unique and specific insight into the workings of the mind of a god, if there is one.
Any god, worth his or her salt, would be aghast at such controlling terms which are no more than an abuse of free-thinking spirituality, founded in an attempt to own the minds of others. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE TANNAM,
Firhouse,
Dublin 24.
Sir, – Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are not only part of – but also essential to – a healthy democracy. The offence of blasphemy is incompatible with these freedoms and should be removed from our Constitution.
Blasphemy laws foment intolerance and violence. One need only look to other countries where such laws survive. In Egypt, the blasphemy law has resulted in the death penalty – seven people were sentenced to death in 2012 for their involvement in an “anti-Islam” video. In Afghanistan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, blasphemy is also punishable by a penalty up to and including death. In Pakistan, two politicians, Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti, were assassinated because they called for reform of the blasphemy law.
Embarrassingly, Ireland belongs to the blasphemy club, and other countries have cited Ireland’s prohibition on blasphemy in support of their own laws.
The Convention on the Constitution recommended that the offence of blasphemy be abolished. Such an offence has no place in a democracy which values freedom of speech and freedom of expression. These fundamental freedoms cannot be sacrificed in the name of a prohibition on causing offence to certain people’s beliefs. Religion is open to question, scrutiny and humour, just like any other set of beliefs or ideology.
I call on the Government to consider holding a referendum on the removal of the offence of blasphemy from our Constitution, along with the others mooted for next year. – Yours, etc,
ROB SADLIER,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.