Saonara Italy to impose Blasphemy fine

[danieldemol]

‘A northern Italian town has had enough of people taking the Lord’s name in vain and those who do will be fined up to €400 (£360) for blasphemy.

The city council of Saonara, a town with 10,000 inhabitants just outside Padua, has introduced a new law making it illegal “to blaspheme against any faith or religion” and utter foul language in public.’

Read more here Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain: Italian town to issue €400 blasphemy fines

 

[Subduction Zone]

‘A northern Italian town has had enough of people taking the Lord’s name in vain and those who do will be fined up to €400 (£360) for blasphemy.

The city council of Saonara, a town with 10,000 inhabitants just outside Padua, has introduced a new law making it illegal “to blaspheme against any faith or religion” and utter foul language in public.

Interesting. A law that would clearly fail in the U.S. might be legal in Italy. They do not have a well defined freedom of speech there. Or so it appears from the limited reading that I did.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Interesting. A law that would clearly fail in the U.S. might be legal in Italy. They do not have a well defined freedom of speech there. Or so it appears from the limited reading that I did.

I wonder how enforceable law like that would be. Virginia has such a law since the 1800s. Far as I know, it's still on the books.

It’s Illegal to Swear in Public in This One U.S. State—Seriously

Anyways you're talkin about a bunch of Italians here. *Grin*

 

[BSM1]

I wonder how enforceable law like that would be. Virginia has such a law since the 1800s. Far as I know, it's still on the books.

It’s Illegal to Swear in Public in This One U.S. State—Seriously

Anyways you're talkin about a bunch of Italians here. *Grin*

Are you saying that no longer will you hear in the narrow streets of this Italian city, "...that'sa soma spicy Muslim..."?

 

[David1967]

I wonder how enforceable law like that would be. Virginia has such a law since the 1800s. Far as I know, it's still on the books.

It’s Illegal to Swear in Public in This One U.S. State—Seriously

Anyways you're talkin about a bunch of Italians here. *Grin*

Will they put together a Saudi style Morality police perhaps?

 

[Estro Felino]

These fines (in Italy called mulcts) are part of the administrative law and not of the penal law.
Meaning they are rarely applied

 

[dybmh]

It appears the source of the OP is:

hyperlink >>> telegraph.co.uk - Italian town to issue €400 blasphemy fines

 

[We Never Know]

‘A northern Italian town has had enough of people taking the Lord’s name in vain and those who do will be fined up to €400 (£360) for blasphemy.

The city council of Saonara, a town with 10,000 inhabitants just outside Padua, has introduced a new law making it illegal “to blaspheme against any faith or religion” and utter foul language in public.

What standard are they using to get a base and a high on how much someone would be fined?

 

[Estro Felino]

What standard are they using to get a base and a high on how much someone would be fined?

It is allowed to say " Jesus was gay" but calling God a pig (for example) can be fined.
Which cannot be proved unless the sentence you say is recorded...to give you an idea how rarely these mulcts are applied.

 

[We Never Know]

It is allowed to say " Jesus was gay" but calling God a pig (for example) can be fined.
Which cannot be proved unless the sentence you say is recorded...to give you an idea how rarely these mulcts are applied.

Is it a set fine? If 50 people all at different times call god a pig, will they all get the same fine or does it vary?

 

[We Never Know]

It is allowed to say " Jesus was gay" but calling God a pig (for example) can be fined.
Which cannot be proved unless the sentence you say is recorded...to give you an idea how rarely these mulcts are applied.

Many laws are only there to generate revenue. Take for example states that have a seat belt law but not a helmet law for motorcycles.
IMO if it's about safety, it's more unsafe to ride a motorcycle without a helmet than to drive a car without a seat belt.

 

[danieldemol]

What standard are they using to get a base and a high on how much someone would be fined?

i’m not sure but according to the article “In December last year a man was fined €100 for blasphemy in front of a school in Albisola Superiore near Savona.” so I guess that would likely benchmark 100 as the minimum fine and I guess the max penalty is just what is written into the law but I don’t know enough about these things to know.

 

[danieldemol]

Many laws are only there to generate revenue. Take for example states that have a seat belt law but not a helmet law for motorcycles.
IMO if it's about safety, it's more unsafe to ride a motorcycle without a helmet than to drive a car without a seat belt.

There is nothing unsafe in the temporal world about blasphemy unless people choose to make it unsafe

 

[We Never Know]

i’m not sure but according to the article “In December last year a man was fined €100 for blasphemy in front of a school in Albisola Superiore near Savona.” so I guess that would likely benchmark 100 as the minimum fine and I guess the max penalty is just what is written into the law but I don’t know enough about these things to know.

I was just curious as to if they have different classes of blasphemy like say for example,, a misdemeanor, felony E, felony D, felony C etc.

 

[We Never Know]

There is nothing unsafe in the temporal world about blasphemy unless people choose to make it unsafe

You lost me.

You say there is nothing unsafe...unless people choose to make it unsafe. How does one choose to make it unsafe?

 

[danieldemol]

You lost me.

You say there is nothing unsafe...unless people choose to make it unsafe. How does one choose to make it unsafe?

By rioting or death threats or other manner of immature response to blasphemy.

 

[We Never Know]

By rioting or death threats or other manner of immature response to blasphemy.

So now the courts choose to make it unsafe to the pocket book of the offender and profit from it. And that's ok or not ok?

 

[Estro Felino]

By rioting or death threats or other manner of immature response to blasphemy.

We are a liberal secular country. You can write books against Christianity and the Pope...and many writers did and do.

 

[danieldemol]

So now the courts choose to make it unsafe to the pocket book of the offender and profit from it. And that's ok or not ok?

I’m not ok with it, I think such laws should be abandoned.

 

[danieldemol]

We are a liberal secular country. You can write books against Christianity and the Pope...and many writers did and do.

Yes I suppose I should have clarified that I wasn’t giving examples from Italy in post 16, just clarifying how people could potentially choose to make it dangerous as per the question I was asked. I’m sure Italians are far more civilised than the potential examples I gave