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The Hypocrisy of Blasphemy Laws in Europe Published on February 13, 2007 The recent Jyllands Posten cartoon controversy and the reams of newspaper space devoted to it have thrown up the hypocrisy that Europe has exhibited over the years over the criticism, especially witty criticism using blasphemy laws. The fact is, though, that with the exception of France and Belgium, every EU country has blasphemy laws that restrict artistic expression in one way or another. In 1999, this would become evident in the case of Nigel Wingrove�s film �Visions of Ecstasy� which attempted to put the fantasies recorded by the nun Theresa of Avila on celluloid. The British government banned the film, and, an appeal to the European Court for Human Rights did not help in overturning the ban. The BBC, at the time, seemed to revel in hitting out at Wingrove warning him through it�s news bulletins that blasphemy could be punished in the UK with a life sentence. The intimidation of a filmmaker who had merely used the nun�s fantasies, laced as they were with sexual imagery, to make a film, was acceptable to both the British government as well as to the EU. No major newspaper at the time raised a voice of protest. There has also been the hypocrisy of the Jyllands Posten�s stand on blasphemy as investigated by the Guardian. After rejecting cartoons of Jesus Christ in a country that is nominally mostly Lutheran, the newspaper apparently had little compunction about letting their pages be used to target the country�s largest minority. The reason for this is simple - most European nations have blasphemy laws that seek to throttle criticism of Christianity. Other religions, and atheism are fair game for those who would like to use the pen, brush or megaphone. It is not difficult to look back to the Dark Ages to figure out where these laws got their inspiration from. The more revealing thing, however, is that modern Europe, smug in it�s usual lectures to the rest of the world on human rights, freedom of expression etc still prohibits criticism of Christianity in what can only be considered hypocrisy of the worst kind. There are, though, two nations in the EU whose laws allow blasphemy - France and Belgium. But, this is on paper and even there, people have been persecuted in recent times for their views. Robyn Johannes, president of the Union des Athees, whom I regard as a personal friend, found that criticizing even the pope could be extremely dangerous some years ago. Then pope John Paul II on a visit to Belgium made a statement that accused atheists of running the concentration camps during World War II. Johannes put up posters that showed the Catholic church�s support for the Nazis and their assistance to escaping Nazis after the end of the war and found him promptly arrested, accused of attempting to incite violence against the head of a friendly nation and conspiring against the king and government of Belgium. When produced in court, he asked the prosecution whether the pope had visited Belgium as the leader of a sovereign nation, the Vatican City, or as leader of the church. If he had visited as the leader of a religious organization, he could be criticized. And, if he was visiting as the head of a foreign country, Belgian law forbade the kind of statement that he made. The prosecution fumbled and said that the poster campaign had been illegal, for which a fine was levied and Johannes paid it. He then asked to sue the crown for public defamation if the charges against him were not dropped immediately, and the prosecution withdrew, figuratively speaking, with it�s collective tail between it�s legs. It was evident that though the days of beheading people for criticizing religion were gone, blasphemy was only slightly safer. While the reaction to the Mohammad cartoons has been condemnable and the behavior of the protestors who have torched properties, looted businesses and killed people over them has been criminal, the fact is that the publication of the cartoons was meant to poke fun at Islam. It is possible to rightly condemn the inciters of violence in the Islamic world and to observe that the publication of these cartoons was not as innocent as it would seem at first sight. What the whole episode has shown the world, though, is that Muslims can easily be manipulated by madcap mullahs lashing out at phantoms that they see in their delusions. There is obscurantism under both European law as well as in the teachings of the mullahs who are spokespeople for Islam. There is scope to expose both with words, pictures and films.
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