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NEWS ABOUT: blasphemy

Man Arrested for Declaring Atheism on Facebook

Indonesian civil servant faces up to 5 years for 'blasphemy'

(Newser) - Indonesian atheists, look out. An angry mob attacked a civil servant in Padang after he declared his atheism on Facebook, said police—who promptly arrested the civil servant. "He is suspected of having blasphemed against Islam," a police chief said of Alexander An, 30. "The man told... More »

Singer Fined for Bad-Mouthing the Bible

Polish pop star Doda slapped with $1,450 fine for offending religious feelings

(Newser) - A Polish pop singer has been fined for disparaging the Bible. Dorota Rabczewska, who goes by the stage name Doda, said in an interview that she doubted the Bible because "it's hard to believe in something that was written by someone drunk on wine and smoking herbs."... More »

Hell Breaks Loose Over Depp's Drunk Jesus Song

Some Christians angry Jesus is blitzed in lyrics

(Newser) - Having Jesus turn up for a bachelor night is bad enough. But when Johnny Depp sang about him drinking then passing out on the floor in a new song, it was more than some Christians could bear. The Christian Coalition says Depp and members of the indie band Babybird "... More »

Islamic Mickey Mouse Tweet Gets Tycoon in Hot Water

Egypt's Naguib Sawiris sends image of them in Islamic attire

(Newser) - Unfortunate tweet department: A telecom mogul in Egypt thought it would be a hoot to re-tweet images of Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed in Islamic attire. Now tens of thousands have joined Facebook groups condemning Naguib Sawiris and demanding a boycott of his company, Orascom, which happens to be the... More »

Pakistani Minister Assassinated

Christian lawmaker opposed blasphemy laws

(Newser) - Pakistan's minister for religious minorities was gunned down today in the country's capital, AP reports. Shahbaz Bhatti, himself a member of the country's Christian minority, had been threatened by Islamic militants in the past for calling for reforms of the country's strict blasphemy laws, which impose the death penalty for... More »

Pakistan Busts Schoolkid for Blasphemy

Human Rights Watch calls the case 'mind boggling'

(Newser) - A 17-year-old boy in Karachi has been arrested for blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad in a school exam, drawing widespread condemnation, reports the BBC . Human Rights Watch called for the boy's release, saying that for police to lock him up was "mind boggling." More »

Pakistan Assassination Gives Rise to Extremists

Salman Taseer fought to repeal blasphemy laws, was major PPP force

(Newser) - Yesterday’s assassination of Salman Taseer could deepen Pakistan’s political crisis, and seriously weaken the government’s ability to oppose Islamic extremists. Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, was maybe the country’s most prominent opponent of religious parties and extremism, and a major ally of the embattled secular... More »

Pakistan Sentences Christian to Death for Blasphemy

Mother of 5 says she was persecuted because of religion

(Newser) - Pakistan has sentenced a Christian woman to death for blasphemy against Islam, the Telegraph reports. Asia Bibi, a farmworker and mother of five, made derogatory remarks about Mohammed while arguing about religion with Muslim colleagues, say prosecutors. "Essentially the blasphemy law is used as a tool of persecution and... More »

Irish Atheists Use Carlin to Flout Law on Blasphemy

Zappa, Bjork and Jesus also make list of no-no quotations

(Newser) - An atheist group in Ireland thinks a new law against blasphemy is "silly and dangerous," and it's using everyone from Jesus to George Carlin to support its case. The Atheist Ireland website has put up 25 quotes it says would run afoul of the 2-day-old law, which forbids... More »

Atheists Split Over How Mean to Be to Faithful

'New atheists' want to decry religion, not just promote secularism

(Newser) - Can a non-religion schism? Maybe that’s too dramatic a phrase, but there’s a rift growing between so-called “new atheists,” who favor an aggressive, mocking stance toward religion, and the old live-and-let-live kind. On “Blasphemy Day” last month, for example, new atheists were out in force,... More »

Afghan Writer's Death Sentence Reduced

Student gets 20 years for 'blasphemy' about women's rights

(Newser) - Parwez Kambakhsh won’t be executed for distributing literature on women’s rights, but the student and part-time journalist will spend the next 20 years in prison, an Afghan appeals court ruled yesterday. “This is arguably worse for him,” one human-rights advocate told the Los Angeles Times of... More »

'Gay Last Supper' Sparks Rage

Catholics upset over Vienna museum's painting of apostle orgy

(Newser) - A tiny Vienna museum with ties to the Catholic Church has became the target of worldwide outrage after displaying a homoerotic mural depicting the Last Supper, ABC News reports. The painting, by one of Austria's most cherished artists, shows naked apostles drinking and having an orgy. It has now been... More »

Teddy Teacher Spurs UK to Kill Own Blasphemy Law

House of Lords strikes down statute questioned since Sudan teddy-bear case

(Newser) - Britain's House of Lords voted yesterday to abolish blasphemy laws after an international incident sparked debate over secularism and tradition, the Los Angeles Times reports. With the UK and Sudan at odds in November over the prosecution of a British teacher allowing students to name a teddy bear Mohammad, many... More »

Afghan Senate Revokes Call for Execution

About-face is lifeline for journalism student convicted of blasphemy

(Newser) - Following international outcry, the Afghan Senate has withdrawn its call for the execution of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, a 23-year-old student convicted of blasphemy for downloading a report on women's rights. The Senate now calls its previous endorsement of the death penalty for Kambaksh "a technical mistake," raising hopes... More »

Afghan Student Faces Death for Blasphemy

Journalist condemned for reading document on women, Koran

(Newser) - Protesters in Afghanistan and abroad have taken up the cause of a journalism student sentenced to death for blasphemy after he downloaded and distributed a document on women and the Koran. Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, 23, was convicted in an Islamic court, and the country's Senate has upheld the ruling. He... More »

Springer Opera Dodges Blasphemy Bullet

Christian group can't sue BBC director: court

(Newser) - A British court has ruled that the BBC can't be prosecuted for blasphemy for airing Jerry Springer—The Opera, which features scenes set in Hell with Jesus and Satan. The High Court ruled that not only is the opera not blasphemous—because it satirizes a TV show rather than attacking... More »

Teddy Teacher May Gain Early Release

British Muslim lawmakers optimistic as they arrive in Sudan

(Newser) - British Muslim lawmakers came to Sudan today to push for the early release of the teacher whose class set off a national furor by naming a teddy bear Muhammad, the BBC reports. The move raised hopes that Sudan leaders can free her to a Muslim delegation without angering protesters calling... More »

Teacher Held for Teddy Bear Blasphemy

Briton in Sudan faces 40 lashes over bear named 'Mohammed'

(Newser) - A UK teacher in Sudan may get 40 lashes and a 6-month sentence over a teddy bear named "Mohammed," the Telegraph reports. Sudanese cops nabbed Gillian Gibbons yesterday for blasphemy after she let her elementary school kids name the bear after Islam's prophet. School director Robert Boulos, who... More »

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