It has been said that blasphemy is a victimless crime. Blasphemy affects ideas, not persons. The challenge, the satire, or even the ridicule of any idea is freedom of speech, which must not only be allowed, but also protected. Religious views and ideas should be no exception.
This is precisely the crucial point where we must focus.
Defenders of the penalization of blasphemy say that thus we preserve religious peace and protect the religious freedom of believers of the affected religions. But what is this “religious peace”? How does it differ from peace in general? Why should it be dealt with in a special way?
Peace and public order are already protected by various laws. What impels lawmekers to specifically mention religious peace is on one hand the extreme touchiness of believers, who identify with their views in such a degree that they consider a personal insult everything that challenges them, and on the other the excessive respect of society towards religious ideas a respect not extended to other types of ideologies.
Why do we treat religious views with special care? Why do we value religious touchiness so much?
If we challenge a political ideology or a football team their followers might get angry and commit acts of violence, disrupting public order. But no one suggests pennalization of insulting a political ideology or a football team to avoid disturbing “political peace” or “football peace”. Followers of these ideas are penalized, if they get violent, but not so those who insulted their ideology.
In the case of blasphemy, however, the exact opposite is true.
In our mind, we indentify blasphemy with insults, but it is not limited to this nor is it necessary to insult in order to blaspheme. For example, the Atheist Union organizes every year the “Just Supper” and the celebration of the “Alcoholy Spirit”. The titles of these celebrations can be considered blasphemous because they are word games based on large christian holidays. But this is not insulting, nor offensive.
It is merely challenging the holiness of a dogma.
This is the real reason they cause annoyance. The same reason that annoyance is caused by works of art or by satirical stories, while no one cares about the everyday insult of the divine by angry drivers or with the ridicule of the habits of priests and nuns from countless blasphemers who dress as such during Carnival.
As far as religious freedom is concerned, it is obviously not in the least limited by blasphemy. Hard criticism, satire and ridicule may displease some people, but it doesn’t stop believers from following their religious duties.
The law must protect free expression of religion, but at the same time it must be perfectly clear that religions themselves are no more than belief systems and ideologies, and that criticism and comment must be totally free in a modern society who strives for progress. The law must protect the expression of criticism instead of penalizing it.
This fact is understood by most European countries which one by one abolish blasphemy clauses from their laws. In 2008 they were repealed in England and Wales, in 2009 in Norway, in 2014 in the Netherlands, in 2015 in Iceland, in 2016 in Malta, in 2017 in France and Denmark. Most recent is the case of Ireland, where on October 26, 2018 it was decided by public vote to abolish the constitutional clause penalizing blasphemy. Nevertheless, in 21st century Greece blasphemy is still a criminal offence.
In June 2012, the police arrested three actors of the play “Corpus Christi” when a complaint was filed for defamation of religion and malicious blasphemy. The district attorney released the three artists but criminal proceedings were opened against them. The Holy Synod had declared the play “blasphemous” and “despicable”.
In September 2012 creator of satirical webpage “Elder Pastitsios” was arrested on charges for malicious blasphemy and defamation of religion a few days after the subject was brought to the parliament by the political party Golden Dawn and only four days after the negative reply of Konstantinos Karagounis, then Minister of Justice, with the silent consent of the rest of the parliament, to the request of MP Petros Tatsopoulos of the SYRIZA party for abolition of the Penal Code articles on blasphemy.
A 10 months suspended sentence was imposed for reiterant defamation of religion. He appealed and finally the prosecution stopped due to another law, that eliminated penality of minor offences. But he was not found innocent and the shameful articles of the Penal Code are still valid and are still enforced, against freedom of speech.
In June 2016 the Atheist Union of Greece, member of Atheist Alliance International and the European Humanist Federation, cosigns with 54 organizations from all over the world a joint petition that was sent to the Ministry of Justice asking for the abolition of the blasphemy articles from the Greek Penal Code.
Eight years after the arrests, in spite of the change of goverment in spite of repeated actions of the people and MPs in spite of the fact that Greek society is mature enough Greece hasn’t dared abolish these outdated articles of the Penal Code.
Greece has always been a crossroad of civlizations. Today, more than ever, it is home to a mosaic of people from all over the world, while every day more immigrants and refugees arrive, many of whom stay in our country permanently bringing with them their culture, their traditions and of course their religion. Many of them are atheists, as we are in a position to know, because many of them contact us for help and support. Meanwhile, more and more Greeks become estranged from traditional religions. They either create a more modern, more personal spirituality or they become irreligious, atheists, or agnostics.
All these people compose a complex landscape full of various ideas and beliefs, very different from one another. All of these ideas will of course be talked about, will be the subject of debate and criticism often even of scorn, satire or mockery. It is unrealistic to try and keep them immune. It is outrageous to attempt it by making the insult of ideas a criminal offence.
Blasphemy affects ideas, not people. Blasphemers not only do not harm anyone but they themselves are in danger, not only from touchy persons who might attack them like in the play of “Corpus Christi”, but also from the state that punishes them instead of protecting them as it should.
In the Atheist Union of Greece, years ago we drew up a proposal for the separation of church and state where we ask, among other things for abolition of all discriminations and penalizations that have a religious base.
We ask for abolition of the 7th chapter of the Penal Code “Threats to Religious Peace”. Articles 198, 199 and 200 must be completely abolished, while article 201 on vilification of the dead can be transferred to another chapter. The real offences described here are already covered by articles on disruption of public order on insult and defamation. No special provision is needed for the disruption of the so-called “religious” peace. Regarding blasphemy, that is insulting religious dogmas in any form it may take place, even through satire or mockery, it is not a crime from the state’s viewpoint but freedom of speech.
And freedom of speech should not be negotiable.
Thank you.
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