Blasphemy laws suck
In countries with a state religion, blasphemy is an attack to the very foundation of that state. Secular countries have similar laws and concepts. It can include hate speech and flag desecration. Some monarchies have lese majeste laws that are similar in nature.
In fact, blasphemy and hate speech are very similar. In hate speech, you will, for example, insult the ancestry of your fellow citizens. This is not considered acceptable in a society based on equality, and generally can incite violence, and therefore is illegal in some countries. In blasphemy, you insult the religion of your fellow citizens, this is not acceptable in a society based on that religion and can incite violence, and therefore is illegal is some countries.
Other laws that can be related to blasphemy are related to fictional child porn (ex: lolicon). Real child porn is a product of rape, so it is understandably illegal, but lolicon is essentially blasphemy against the sacred "purity" of children. The idea that it can cause distress, incite actual child rape, etc... is the same idea as how blasphemy can cause distress for believers and incite others to not follow the (religious) law.
Note, as an atheist, I am against state religions. I am also in favor of freedom of expression over protecting people feelings, especially with such harsh punishment. However, I am not Nigerian, I don't know their culture, so I won't give them lessons when it comes to their internal affairs. I can only disagree.
It is much more prevalent than a rational, scientific approach and I can understand people want to defend something they deeply believe in. We are not a tolerant species.
Now, as a pure atheist, I am all in favor to ban these laws and pus religion somewhere n the side, together with fairy tales (or psychiatric studies). I also know that this will not happen.
- tradition
- because it worked for previous generations: America became one of the best countries to live in while being religious
- I guess some people also shared my experience that it worked, despite how unreasonable it seems. (Yes, this means I am an engineer who discuss evolution with you guys and have studied a tiny bit of astrophysics, but still pray to God and is heavily influenced by what I read. It kind of works like wave particle dualism: I use the model that works for the situation.)
Religion is a codified belief system while science is a codified knowledge discovery system. They cohabitate just fine until one is mistaken for the other.
Maybe some in the us use religion to explain why they should be in a privileged position compared to others?
EDIT: I began drafting this comment before others posted their flame comments. My bad for bringing nuance to a “flame religion” thread.
I'm ambivalent whether religion has done humanity more harm than good, but I think that it probably on balance is too humanity's benefit.
In any case, what we have here is a case of extremism. Let's call that out instead of using it as an example to bash all religion.
The Soviets yes. Communism was the religion and Lenin its' prophet.
Nazis had "gott mit uns" though.
And anyway in most Muslim majorities country you couldn’t enforce such a separation anyway.
The new attacks in France linked to the republication of depictions of Muhammad by Charlie Hebdo and the violent protest in Sweden after a Danish politicians burned some copies of the Quran shows Thant it can be hard to enforce even with a Muslim minority.
Any way you want to slice it, official state sanctioned sectarianism is deadly. Don't do it, that way leads only to pain and degradation. It doesn't matter what family of religions the sect is part of.
If full participation in the doings of the state as a citizen requires you to publicly swear to certain religious doctrines as a prerequisite, at least two things happen: 1. religious disagreements are now treasonous threats to the authority of the state that must be met with force, and 2. you cannot trust anyone's affirmation of their beliefs, including your own. Both are extraordinarily corrosive truths to the people who have to perform them, not to mention the state and the religion.
France just jailed an intellectual, Herve Ryssen, for the contents of his books and documentaries about jews. In the meantime, French political elites, including President Macron, are lauding the re-publication of Charlie Hebdo caricatures about Islam. Some animals are more equal than others...
Except for the United States, no country has real freedom of speech, and all countries have taboos that can land you in jail if you write books about certain topics.
Ahem...
- https://youtu.be/TIClA57jWmQ
- https://youtu.be/xuAAPsiD768
Particularly the second link, the journalist is forbidden from interviewing an inmate. Also he's under special surveillance.
Call that "freedom of speech".
That's a joke, right? US cosplays at having freedom of speech, the law only protects you from the government, but even that applies selectively - look at the treatment of journalists in the US. No wonder the country is 16th on the freedom of press ranking!