Ireland has made blasphemy illegal as a part of its Defamation Act. Blasphemy has actually been Constitutionally prohibited in Ireland since 1937, however the Constitution does not provide details. It only lists it as an offense that is punishable by law. The previous blasphemy law was enacted in 1961, but was ruled unenforceable by the Supreme Court in 1999. Here is a sample of the text from the law, posted on the Reconstructionist Christian site Palibandaily.com:
36. Publication or utterance of blasphemous matter.
(1) A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,000. [Amended to €25,000]
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person publishes or utters blasphemous matter if (a) he or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion, and (b) he or she intends, by the publication or utterance of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage.
(3) It shall be a defence to proceedings for an offence under this section for the defendant to prove that a reasonable person would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value in the matter to which the offence relates.
37. Seizure of copies of blasphemous statements.
(1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under section 36, the court may issue a warrant (a) authorising any member of the Garda Siochana to enter (if necessary by the use of reasonable force) at all reasonable times any premises (including a dwelling) at which he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that copies of the statement to which the offence related are to be found, and to search those premises and seize and remove all copies of the statement found therein, (b) directing the seizure and removal by any member of the Garda Siochana of all copies of the statement to which the offence related that are in the possession of any person, © specifying the manner in which copies so seized and removed shall be detained and stored by the Garda Siochana.
(2) A member of the Garda Siochana may (a) enter and search any premises, (b) seize, remove and detain any copy of a statement to which an offence under section 36 relates found therein or in the possession of any person, in accordance with a warrant under subsection (1).
(3) Upon final judgment being given in proceedings for an offence under section 36, anything seized and removed under subsection (2) shall be disposed of in accordance with such directions as the court may give upon an application by a member of the Garda Siochana in that behalf.
There are several reasons that this law is a horrible idea. Not only does it limit freedom of speech (an atrocity in and of itself), but it leaves the definition of blasphemy to be determined by religious groups. Who else could determine what causes “outrage” or what is “held sacred?” Additionally, the law allows police to seize blasphemous material if they have reasonable suspicion that you possess such material. If you live in Ireland, be careful about the books you bring home, and even more careful who you talk about them to. You never know, the Ministry of Justice could be breaking down your door, looking to confiscate your banned books. I never thought a country in the Western World would come up with something so medieval. Hopefully this travesty of a law will either be repealed or ignored. The organization Atheist Ireland has announced that it plans to publicly test the law. We’ll see how that goes.
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