• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Blasphemy

Pakistani couple get death sentences for blasphemy
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26901433

Christians in a church in Lahore (file photo)

Human rights groups say Pakistan's blasphemy laws are often used to target minorities, including Christians

A Pakistani Christian couple have been sentenced to death for blasphemy after allegedly sending a text message insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

The couple, named as Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kausar, were found guilty of sending the text message to the imam of their local mosque.

Allegations of blasphemy against Islam are taken very seriously in Pakistan.

Several recent cases have prompted international concern about the application of blasphemy laws.

The imam brought a complaint against the couple last July.

The couple's lawyer told the BBC he would appeal against the sentences and said the trial had not been conducted fairly.

Pakistan has a de fact moratorium on the death penalty so it is unlikely the couple will be executed.

They come from the town of Gojra in Punjab, previously the scene of communal violence.

Continue reading the main story
Pakistan's blasphemy laws

After partition in 1947 Pakistan inherited offences relating to religion which were first codified by India's British rulers in 1860
In the 1980s clauses were added to the laws by the military government of General Zia-ul Haq
One clause recommends life imprisonment for "wilful" desecration of the Koran, another says blasphemy is punishable by death or life imprisonment
Muslims constitute a majority of those booked under these laws, followed by the minority Ahmadi community
A majority support the idea that blasphemers should be punished, but there is little understanding of what religious scripture says as opposed to how the modern law is codified
Q&A: Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws
In 2009 the rumoured desecration of a copy of the Koran led to a mob burning nearly 40 houses and a church in Gojra. At least eight members of Christian community died in the violence.

Minorities targeted
Since the 1990s, scores of Christians have been convicted for desecrating the Koran or blaspheming against the Prophet Mohammed.

While most of them have been sentenced to death by the lower courts, many sentences have been overturned due to lack of evidence.

Critics argue that Pakistan's blasphemy laws are frequently misused to settle personal scores and that members of minority groups are also unfairly targeted.

Muslims constitute a majority of those prosecuted, followed by the minority Ahmadi community.

In 2012 the arrest of a young Christian girl, Rimsha Masih, on blasphemy charges provoked international outrage. After being detained in a high security prison for several weeks she was eventually released and her family subsequently fled to Canada.
 
Pakistan 'blasphemy lawyer' shot dead in Multan office

Perceived insults against Islam can cause much public anger in Pakistan

Gunmen in the Pakistani city of Multan have shot dead a lawyer defending a university lecturer accused of blasphemy, police and officials say.

Police said that Rashid Rehman was sitting in his office when he was shot. Two of his assistants were injured.

Allegations of blasphemy against Islam are taken very seriously in Pakistan.

Critics argue that blasphemy laws are frequently misused to settle personal scores and that members of minority groups are often unfairly targeted.

Continue reading the main story
Pakistan's blasphemy laws

After partition in 1947 Pakistan inherited offences relating to religion which were first codified by India's British rulers in 1860
In the 1980s clauses were added to the laws by the military government of General Zia-ul Haq
One clause recommends life imprisonment for "wilful" desecration of the Koran, another says blasphemy is punishable by death or life imprisonment
Muslims constitute a majority of those booked under these laws, followed by the minority Ahmadi community
A majority support the idea that blasphemers should be punished, but there is little understanding of what religious scripture says as opposed to how the modern law is codified
Q&A: Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws
Senior police official Zulfiqar Ali told AFP news agency that Mr Rehman died amid "indiscriminate firing" in his office on Wednesday evening.

He said he and his two injured colleagues were rushed to hospital where doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival.

Mr Rehman was defending Junaid Hafeez, a lecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University accused by hardline student groups of making derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad in March last year.

An official at the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) told AFP that for a year no lawyer was prepared to take up the case because of fear of reprisals from extremist religious groups.

Mr Rehman, a rights activist and co-ordinator of the HRCP, decided to defend Mr Hafeez despite reportedly receiving death threats.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27319433
 
This time they're going for all the lawyers in town.

Pakistan police charge 68 Pakistani lawyers with blasphemy

Activists of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) hold candles and placards as they shout slogans during a protest against the killing of Pakistani lawyer Rashid Rehman in Islamabad on May 8, 2014.

Pakistani police have charged 68 lawyers with blasphemy in what is thought to be the biggest ever case of its kind in the country.

The charges were brought in Punjab after lawyers protested when police detained one of their colleagues.

During the protest the lawyers are accused of insulting a companion of the Prophet Muhammad. Police say they acted after a local man complained.

Critics say blasphemy laws are often misused to settle scores in Pakistan.

The case in Punjab's Jhang district was registered against eight named lawyers and 60 unidentified ones.

The lawyers had been campaigning for the arrest of five policemen they accused of illegally detaining and manhandling a lawyer in the city of Jhang last week.

A complainant told the police his feelings had been hurt when some lawyers ridiculed a police officer who shares his name with the second Caliph, Omar.

The most serious blasphemy charges can carry the death penalty in Pakistan. But in this case the defendants face at most three years in jail if the case comes to trial and they are convicted, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad reports.

Many believe the case is an example of how easily the blasphemy laws can be misused, he says. They say the case is the result of a feud between police and the legal fraternity.

No arrests have been made.

The investigating officer in the case, Inspector Ashiq Hussain, told the BBC that since the entire legal community of Jhang city had become involved, efforts were being made "to resolve the matter, and it may not lead to arrests".

Even so, those named in the case, some of them Shia, may not now feel safe in the future in a country with a history of sectarian violence, our correspondent adds.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27391334
 
ramonmercado said:
This time they're going for all the lawyers in town.

Pakistan police charge 68 Pakistani lawyers with blasphemy

Activists of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) hold candles and placards as they shout slogans during a protest against the killing of Pakistani lawyer Rashid Rehman in Islamabad on May 8, 2014.

Pakistani police have charged 68 lawyers with blasphemy in what is thought to be the biggest ever case of its kind in the country.

The charges were brought in Punjab after lawyers protested when police detained one of their colleagues.

During the protest the lawyers are accused of insulting a companion of the Prophet Muhammad. Police say they acted after a local man complained.

Critics say blasphemy laws are often misused to settle scores in Pakistan.

The case in Punjab's Jhang district was registered against eight named lawyers and 60 unidentified ones.

The lawyers had been campaigning for the arrest of five policemen they accused of illegally detaining and manhandling a lawyer in the city of Jhang last week.

A complainant told the police his feelings had been hurt when some lawyers ridiculed a police officer who shares his name with the second Caliph, Omar.

The most serious blasphemy charges can carry the death penalty in Pakistan. But in this case the defendants face at most three years in jail if the case comes to trial and they are convicted, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad reports.

Many believe the case is an example of how easily the blasphemy laws can be misused, he says. They say the case is the result of a feud between police and the legal fraternity.

No arrests have been made.

The investigating officer in the case, Inspector Ashiq Hussain, told the BBC that since the entire legal community of Jhang city had become involved, efforts were being made "to resolve the matter, and it may not lead to arrests".

Even so, those named in the case, some of them Shia, may not now feel safe in the future in a country with a history of sectarian violence, our correspondent adds.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27391334

Completely barking.
 
Proves my point, all organised religion is loving and peaceful. Right up to the point where you get human beings involved, then it all goes to rat shit.
:evil:
 
Twitter unblocks 'blasphemous' tweets in Pakistan

Twitter has unblocked access to dozens of accounts and specific tweets that it had made unavailable in Pakistan.

The social network had imposed the restrictions last month after complaints from the country's telecoms authority that the material was "blasphemous" and "unethical."

Many of the examples mocked Islam.

Twitter said it had now dropped the ban because the watchdog had not followed up its initial requests with further documentation.

It publicised the move by informing Chilling Effects, a website that keeps track of cease-and-desist demands sent to internet-based organisations.

"On May 18, 2014, we made an initial decision to withhold content in Pakistan based on information provided to us by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority," Twitter told the site.

"Consistent with our longstanding policies we provided notice to all of the affected account holders and published the actioned takedown requests on Chilling Effects to maximise transparency regarding our decision.

"We have re-examined the requests and, in the absence of additional clarifying information from Pakistani authorities, have determined that restoration of the previously withheld content is warranted." ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27902627
 
Teen May Get 2 Years For Pic Of Fake Oral Sex With Jesus (PHOTO)

Will this boy get punished for coming to Jesus?

A Pennsylvania teen may face up to two years behind bars for allegedly taking a photo of himself simulating oral sex with a statue of Jesus, Kron 4 reports.

jesus statue blurred

The photo was taken in front of Love in the Name of Christ, a Christian organization in Everett, Pennsylvania, and posted on Facebook back in July.

On Tuesday, the 14-year-old — whose name has not been released by police — was charged with desecration of a venerated object, the Smoking Gun reported. If convicted, he could wind up spending two years in a juvenile jail, according to Kron 4.

“Desecration” is defined in Pennsyvlania as ““Defacing, damaging, polluting or otherwise, physically mistreating in a way that the actor knows will outrage the sensibilities of persons likely to observe or discover the action.”

Patheos.com notes that in Pennsylvania, a vandalism charge usually carries a maximum penalty of only one year in jail. JT Eberhard writes: ...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/1 ... tent=Title
 
I think the mistake he made here was being unable to resist the modern urge. To take photos of oneself, that is.
 
gncxx said:
I think the mistake he made here was being unable to resist the modern urge. To take photos of oneself, that is.

In my younger more hot-headed days I destroyed a public statue of the BVM and drew hammers and sickles on others. Never made an open declaration of responsibility though.
 
ramonmercado said:
gncxx said:
I think the mistake he made here was being unable to resist the modern urge. To take photos of oneself, that is.

In my younger more hot-headed days I destroyed a public statue of the BVM and drew hammers and sickles on others. Never made an open declaration of responsibility though.

I am not just an atheist but an anti-theist, and there is no way I would ever consider doing something like that.

Bad boy!
 
Mythopoeika said:
ramonmercado said:
gncxx said:
I think the mistake he made here was being unable to resist the modern urge. To take photos of oneself, that is.

In my younger more hot-headed days I destroyed a public statue of the BVM and drew hammers and sickles on others. Never made an open declaration of responsibility though.

I am not just an atheist but an anti-theist, and there is no way I would ever consider doing something like that.

Bad boy!

If you had come of age in 70s/80s Ireland you might have.
 
I am not just an atheist but an anti-theist, and there is no way I would ever consider doing something like that.

I once splatted a paper plate covered in instant cream stuff in the face of a street preacher on a busy Saturday afternoon, also once covered one of the buggers in silly string.

I guess that's what watching your friends get buggered up by religion does for you.
 
OneWingedBird said:
I am not just an atheist but an anti-theist, and there is no way I would ever consider doing something like that.

I once splatted a paper plate covered in instant cream stuff in the face of a street preacher on a busy Saturday afternoon, also once covered one of the buggers in silly string.

I guess that's what watching your friends get buggered up by religion does for you.

Well done!
 
ramonmercado said:
OneWingedBird said:
I am not just an atheist but an anti-theist, and there is no way I would ever consider doing something like that.

I once splatted a paper plate covered in instant cream stuff in the face of a street preacher on a busy Saturday afternoon, also once covered one of the buggers in silly string.

I guess that's what watching your friends get buggered up by religion does for you.

Well done!

Seconded!

I feel bad that I laughed at the lad getting a divine BJ, but laugh I did. :lol: It's neither big nor clever, which is probably why it's funny.
 
Family of blasphemy Scot Muhammad Asghar fear more attempts on his life

The family of a Scottish grandfather wounded by a prison guard in Pakistan have said they fear further attempts on his life. Muhammad Asghar, 70, was in custody pending an appeal against a death sentence passed for blasphemy when he was shot in the back.

His daughter Jasmine Rana said it was her "worst nightmare come true". The family solicitor said Mr Asghar was "stable" in hospital but his mental health had deteriorated.

A prison guard Mohammad Yousuf appeared in court in Rawalpindi on Friday accused of the shooting and was remanded in custody. A police official told BBC News he had worked at the jail for about a year and appeared to hold strong religious views.

Mr Asghar, a successful Edinburgh businessman with a history of mental illness, including a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, returned to live in Pakistan in 2010.

He was later arrested for writing several letters claiming to be a prophet and convicted of blasphemy. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edi ... e-29373514
 
Lawyers acting for a Scot who was shot by a prison guard in Pakistan have called on the Prime Minister to intervene, after reports he will return to the jail where he was attacked.Mohammad Asghar, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, was sentenced to death for blasphemy in January.

The 70-year-old has been in hospital since he was shot in the back on Thursday at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi. The charity Reprieve has asked David Cameron to act to ensure his safety. Reports that the Pakistani authorities intended to return him to the prison where he was shot have led to new concerns for the Edinburgh businessman's safety.

Reprieve said the prison does not have the facilities to adequately treat individuals with mental illness as severe as Mr Asghar's. His lawyers have also noted a marked deterioration in his condition following the recent attempt on his life. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edi ... e-29400176
 
Moscow (AFP) - Sculptures by a renowned Soviet artist on show in central Moscow were smashed after being denounced by Orthodox activists as "blasphemous."


"Delusional people came to the exhibition who broke several works belonging to the Manege collection, by Vadim Sidur," said a spokeswoman for the Manege art centre by the Kremlin walls, Yelena Karneyeva, referring to the activists.

"Several sculptures are completely smashed," she told AFP, adding that police had come and led away the activists. The works were made of plaster and linoleum.

A police spokesman told AFP that he could "confirm the incident happened and that currently all the participants of the conflict have been taken to the station to write statements."

A well-known Orthodox activist Dmitry Tsorionov, known by the nickname Dmitry Enteo, earlier said he was at the Manege exhibition centre.

"We called the police," he said. "They will close the exhibition for offending believers."

Enteo, quoted by Interfax news agency, had said the exhibition included an "indecent" depiction of Jesus Christ and was "dirty, harsh mockery of Jesus Christ and the saints."

http://news.yahoo.com/orthodox-activists-smash-blasphemous-sculptures-moscow-181549806.html
 
An Iranian man who was on death row for allegedly insulting the prophet Muhammad has had his sentence commuted to reading 13 religious books and studying theology for two years.

Soheil Arabi, 31, was arrested by members of the Iranian revolutionary guards in November 2013 in connection with Facebook postings which the Iranian judiciary deemed insulting to the founder of Islam. He was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death.

A higher court annulled his death penalty, and his new sentence, which includes a 90-day jail term, emerged this week. Arabi will not be coming out of prison time any time soon, as he is also serving a separate seven-and-a-half-year sentence for allegedly insulting the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, alongside similar charges.

The commuting of Arabi’s death sentence is the first such decision to have been taken by a judiciary court in Iran. It is not clear how many people are on death row in the country for blasphemy, heresy or other religious grounds. Last year a 37-year-old man was executed after being found guilty of insulting the prophet Jonah, making “innovations in the religion” and “spreading corruption on earth”. He had interpreted Jonah’s story in the Qur’an as a symbolic tale. ...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/30/iran-death-sentence-commuted-theology-study
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jim
An Iranian man who was on death row for allegedly insulting the prophet Muhammad has had his sentence commuted to reading 13 religious books and studying theology for two years.
If that was the only choice, I'd take the death sentence.
 
Georgia has moved ahead with plans to make religious irreverence punishable by law, prompting freedom-of-expression concerns in this observant Orthodox Christian society. The so-called blasphemy bill, now approved at committee-level and headed for the parliamentary floor, bodes ill for groups at odds with the mainstream, critics claim.

In a country where cars, apartments and offices sport cross-emblazoned stickers as a sign of a priest’s blessing, the concern is not idle. According to a 2015 poll conducted by WIN/Gallup International, Georgia ranks among the world’s most religious nations. Many Georgians are hypersensitive to any criticism of the Church, seen as the historical defender of Georgia’s national identity. In 2013, Patriarch Ilia II ranked as the country's most trusted public figure.

Against that backdrop, individuals ranging from writers and artists to minority religions and the LGBT community have encountered a fight at one time or another with those who believe veneration for the Church should take precedence over civil rights.

Some observers charge that the draft law will make the Church all but impervious to critical scrutiny.

The proposed bill would impose a 100-lari fine ($120) for insults to religious feelings and double the amount for a repeat offense. An act of desecration would cost an offender 500 lari (about $200); a second act 1,000 laris ($401.61).

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/77156
 
This is exactly what God would want of course. A fine of a fairly manageable sum. After all, He is raking it in from hospital car park charges and reckons that the real value of belief versus disbelief can be decided on a financial scale roughly equivalent to what some local twonk considers a large sum of money. Now I've spoken to God and actually She thinks this is a pretty rubbish idea, profitable as it may seem. Firstly because He's dropped all that persecution and cursey nonsense we've all been warned about and secondly, only the other day, She was still angry about the dinosaurs fucking up their exchange rates and bringing about their own extinction. What He really wants is for us to all get along and stop trying to screw each other over. And that includes the Atheists, which after all, She invented.
 
This is exactly what God would want of course. A fine of a fairly manageable sum. After all, He is raking it in from hospital car park charges and reckons that the real value of belief versus disbelief can be decided on a financial scale roughly equivalent to what some local twonk considers a large sum of money. Now I've spoken to God and actually he thinks this is a pretty rubbish idea, profitable as it may seem. Firstly because he's dropped all that persecution and cursey nonsense we've all been warned about and secondly, only the other day, she was still angry about the dinosaurs fucking up their exchange rates and bringing about their own extinction. What He really wants is for us to all get along and stop trying to screw each other over. And that includes the Atheists, which after all, She invented.
Jesus Christ! .... and talking of Jesus Christ, The Bible tells us that he once kicked off when he walked into a church and found out that people were using it as a business centre instead ... not that I'd know, I wasn't there .. I hadn't been born yet for roughly 2000 years.
 
A man in southern Russia faces a potential jail sentence after he was charged with insulting the feelings of religious believers over an internet exchange in which he wrote that “there is no God”.

Viktor Krasnov, 38, who appeared in court Wednesday, is being prosecuted under a controversial 2013 law that was introduced after punk art group Pussy Riots was jailed for a performance in Moscow’s main cathedral, his lawyer Andrei Sabinin told AFP.
The charges – which carry a maximum one-year jail sentence – centre on an internet exchange that Krasnov was involved in in 2014 on a humorous local website in his hometown of Stavropol.

“If I say that the collection of Jewish fairytales entitled the Bible is complete bullshit, that is that. At least for me,” Krasnov wrote, adding later “there is no God!”

One of the young people involved in the dispute with Krasnov then lodged a complaint against him accusing him of “offending the sentiments of Orthodox believers”.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...stence-of-god-during-webchat?CMP=share_btn_tw
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doc
A man in southern Russia faces a potential jail sentence after he was charged with insulting the feelings of religious believers over an internet exchange in which he wrote that “there is no God”.

Viktor Krasnov, 38, who appeared in court Wednesday, is being prosecuted under a controversial 2013 law that was introduced after punk art group Pussy Riots was jailed for a performance in Moscow’s main cathedral, his lawyer Andrei Sabinin told AFP.
The charges – which carry a maximum one-year jail sentence – centre on an internet exchange that Krasnov was involved in in 2014 on a humorous local website in his hometown of Stavropol.

“If I say that the collection of Jewish fairytales entitled the Bible is complete bullshit, that is that. At least for me,” Krasnov wrote, adding later “there is no God!”

One of the young people involved in the dispute with Krasnov then lodged a complaint against him accusing him of “offending the sentiments of Orthodox believers”.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/03/russian-atheist-faces-year-in-jail-for-denying-existence-of-god-during-webchat?CMP=share_btn_tw

Oh for Bog's sake ...
 
Jesus Christ! .... and talking of Jesus Christ, The Bible tells us that he once kicked off when he walked into a church and found out that people were using it as a business centre instead ... not that I'd know, I wasn't there .. I hadn't been born yet for roughly 2000 years.
Actually he did this 2ce, that is driving out the money changers from the temple. He also said kick off the dust from your sandals and move on when it came to trying to convince someone who didn't desire to listen.

No state church that was not part of his plan. That's a religious power play.
 
Actually he did this 2ce, that is driving out the money changers from the temple. He also said kick off the dust from your sandals and move on when it came to trying to convince someone who didn't desire to listen.

No state church that was not part of his plan. That's a religious power play.
I liked the bit when everyone who was rich made a big deal out of donating money to a temple ... then some old woman who was poor gave money as well and JC said that was worth more.
 
A man in southern Russia faces a potential jail sentence after he was charged with insulting the feelings of religious believers over an internet exchange in which he wrote that “there is no God”.

Viktor Krasnov, 38, who appeared in court Wednesday, is being prosecuted under a controversial 2013 law that was introduced after punk art group Pussy Riots was jailed for a performance in Moscow’s main cathedral, his lawyer Andrei Sabinin told AFP.
The charges – which carry a maximum one-year jail sentence – centre on an internet exchange that Krasnov was involved in in 2014 on a humorous local website in his hometown of Stavropol.

“If I say that the collection of Jewish fairytales entitled the Bible is complete bullshit, that is that. At least for me,” Krasnov wrote, adding later “there is no God!”

One of the young people involved in the dispute with Krasnov then lodged a complaint against him accusing him of “offending the sentiments of Orthodox believers”.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...stence-of-god-during-webchat?CMP=share_btn_tw
Since when did Russia become so religious?
It wasn't that long ago they had enforced atheism.
 
Back
Top