Weekly Poll: Should Religion get Special Privileges, like with Anti-Blasphemy Laws?
Weekly Poll: Should Religion get Special Privileges, like with Anti-Blasphemy Laws? Thursday July 2, 2009 Religion, and especially Christianity, is often treated as though it should be immune from criticism, much less harsh attacks. Blasphemy laws are a primary means used by religions to control critical speech and ideas. Criminalizing blasphemy uses both the power of the state and the idea of sin to suppress both the expression of ideas as well as the contemplation of those ideas. This causes people to self-censor before the state has to get involved by imposing censorship. Blasphemy laws have lost a lot of credibility over the years, but some believers continue to support them as valid and effective. For some, just calling into question whether Christianity is true or rational is scoffed at by and these same people think nothing of lambasting political ideologies like liberalism or socialism. Is such a double-standard justified? Do you think that religion should be protected by anti-
Religion, and especially Christianity, is often treated as though it should be immune from criticism, much less harsh attacks. Blasphemy laws are a primary means used by religions to control critical speech and ideas. Criminalizing blasphemy uses both the power of the state and the idea of sin to suppress both the expression of ideas as well as the contemplation of those ideas. This causes people to self-censor before the state has to get involved by imposing censorship. Blasphemy laws have lost a lot of credibility over the years, but some believers continue to support them as valid and effective. For some, just calling into question whether Christianity is true or rational is scoffed at by and these same people think nothing of lambasting political ideologies like liberalism or socialism. Is such a double-standard justified? Do you think that religion should be protected by anti-blasphemy laws? This may sound like an odd question on an atheism site, but even some atheists seem to bel
