Iceland Decriminalises Blasphemy - hooray!

[icehorse]

I hope other countries will follow this lead and make strong, positive declarations in defense of secularism!

Iceland decriminalises blasphemy after Charlie Hebdo attack - Yahoo News

The very notion of "blasphemy" deserves nothing more than mockery and derision, and it certainly should be totally and universally defanged in any legal way.

 

[Mohammad Nur Syamsu]

I hope other countries will follow this lead and make strong, positive declarations in defense of secularism!

Iceland decriminalises blasphemy after Charlie Hebdo attack - Yahoo News

The very notion of "blasphemy" deserves nothing more than mockery and derision, and it certainly should be totally and universally defanged in any legal way.

Blasphemy falls in the same category as ridiculing and mocking emotions of people. I don't know what wisdom is, I would say that it should be part of social culture, not laws, whether or not people accept it. But certainly it should then also be allowed to not deal with blasphemers, to not have to be confronted with blasphemy. So blasphemy can be reason for being fired from a job, just as well as ridiculing people's emotions can be a reason to be fired.

 

[Koldo]

Blasphemy falls in the same category as ridiculing and mocking emotions of people. I don't know what wisdom is, I would say that it should be part of social culture, not laws, whether or not people accept it. But certainly it should then also be allowed to not deal with blasphemers, to not have to be confronted with blasphemy. So blasphemy can be reason for being fired from a job, just as well as ridiculing people's emotions can be a reason to be fired.

You say that and yet you deny that Jesus is God manifested in flesh. You, Sir, are fired!

 

[gsa]

Blasphemy falls in the same category as ridiculing and mocking emotions of people. I don't know what wisdom is, I would say that it should be part of social culture, not laws, whether or not people accept it. But certainly it should then also be allowed to not deal with blasphemers, to not have to be confronted with blasphemy. So blasphemy can be reason for being fired from a job, just as well as ridiculing people's emotions can be a reason to be fired.

Then be prepared to be fired for being a Jesus-denying Muslim.

 

[fantome profane]

Blasphemy falls in the same category as ridiculing and mocking emotions of people. I don't know what wisdom is, I would say that it should be part of social culture, not laws, whether or not people accept it. But certainly it should then also be allowed to not deal with blasphemers, to not have to be confronted with blasphemy. So blasphemy can be reason for being fired from a job, just as well as ridiculing people's emotions can be a reason to be fired.

One man's blasphemy is another man's sacred truth.

 

[Father Heathen]

One man's blasphemy is another man's sacred truth.

Exacty.

Also, there is not one thing in this world that someone somewhere doesn't find offensive.

 

[Revoltingest]

September 30 will be a much safer day in Iceland now.

There's a freshly minted frubal awaiting the first person to post why this is so.

 

[LuisDantas]

Blasphemy falls in the same category as ridiculing and mocking emotions of people. I don't know what wisdom is, I would say that it should be part of social culture, not laws, whether or not people accept it. But certainly it should then also be allowed to not deal with blasphemers, to not have to be confronted with blasphemy. So blasphemy can be reason for being fired from a job, just as well as ridiculing people's emotions can be a reason to be fired.

Not so, unless perhaps there are clear and serious consequences in other fields.

Edited to add: I do however wonder how much of a typical Muslim / Islamic mindset this opinion reflects. I suspect that it may indeed be fairly typical.

 

[Riverwolf]

I hope other countries will follow this lead and make strong, positive declarations in defense of secularism!

Iceland decriminalises blasphemy after Charlie Hebdo attack - Yahoo News

The very notion of "blasphemy" deserves nothing more than mockery and derision, and it certainly should be totally and universally defanged in any legal way.

Hear, hear!

If the Gods are so insecure in themselves that they need to have their followers lynch the meanie-heads who call them names, what good are They to us? Thunor/Thor, the God of Manly Manness, still dressed as a woman in order to get back his hammer, though reluctantly. That alone demonstrates self-confidence that the monotheistic Gods, as I've seen them, could only dream of.

 

[Nietzsche]

Strange. I swore Iceland never adopted a Blasphemy law. Or perhaps they were simply one of the last to do it. I can't quite remember. I just know that paganism held out in Iceland longer than it did in the Baltic(Lithuania remained nominally pagan until 13something).

 

[Riverwolf]

Blasphemy falls in the same category as ridiculing and mocking emotions of people. I don't know what wisdom is, I would say that it should be part of social culture, not laws, whether or not people accept it. But certainly it should then also be allowed to not deal with blasphemers, to not have to be confronted with blasphemy. So blasphemy can be reason for being fired from a job, just as well as ridiculing people's emotions can be a reason to be fired.

Ridiculing peoples' emotions in a workplace can be grounds for getting fired, but I don't think it's for the reasons you think. The reason is because it creates a rift between the workers, who are supposed to be a team. If they aren't working together efficiently because they hate each other, then the quality of the work will suffer. That can make the difference between negative and positive profits. So, getting fired for being a jerk has nothing to do with hurting peoples' feelings being wrong; its ultimately bad for business.

 

[fantome profane]

September 30 will be a much safer day in Iceland now.

There's a freshly minted frubal awaiting the first person to post why this is so.

Global warming?

 

[LuisDantas]

What, it is not that difficult to find out... here is a tip: it has to do with the year of 2009.

 

[Revoltingest]

What, it is not that difficult to find out... here is a tip: it has to do with the year of 2009.

You know, but you're not saying.
Frubal shy?

 

[LuisDantas]

I wanna see who and when comes up with the answer.

 

[Willamena]

The very notion of "blasphemy" deserves nothing more than mockery and derision, and it certainly should be totally and universally defanged in any legal way.

As long as it's recognised that the notion that 'blasphemy deserves nothing but mockery' also deserves mockery, I'm in favour of it.

 

[icehorse]

As long as it's recognised that the notion that 'blasphemy deserves nothing but mockery' also deserves mockery, I'm in favour of it.

All ideas are subject to mockery

 

[Awkward Fingers]

Blasphemy laws, you say??

 

[Riverwolf]

As long as it's recognised that the notion that 'blasphemy deserves nothing but mockery' also deserves mockery, I'm in favour of it.

All ideas are subject to mockery

There's a story in Nordic Lore, called Lokasenna (or The Flyting of Loki) where Loki crashes a great feast where all the Gods are attending, and just slanders all of them one by one, even as they rise to each others' defenses, until Thor throws him out. He even slandered Odin, his very Blood Brother.

One way that I read this is that Loki, as a Trickster God, oversees comedy and parody. In his jests, he revealed aspects of the Gods that none of them were willing to admit to each other, even though everything he said was probably true, at least to some degree. That is, after all, one of the functions of comedy that's any good: revealing uncomfortable truths that nobody's willing to address in any other way. Comedy that's not challenging to someone is mediocre, and thus poor comedy.

But another way to read this is that Loki deserved to be thrown out; after all, he basically broke ALL the taboos of guest conduct. (Even killing guards in order to get in). Even if the things he said were partially true, it's likely that he was exaggerating and leaving out key details. He came in and just caused unnecessary trouble for everyone there for no other reason than to troll. Trolling isn't necessary challenging of the status quo; it's just being a jerk for its own sake.

 

[LuisDantas]

So I guess the ultimate lesson is that we should question tradition and authority, but brace ourselves for consequences that may well be not of our liking?

Sounds wise to me.