Looks like Poland is joining the list of gutless countries that want to jail people for speaking their minds about religion. The latest victim of this witch hunt is pop star Dorota Rabczewska (known as Doda), who was charged for an interview she did a year ago saying she believed in dinosaurs more than a book written by “people who drank too much wine and smoked herbal cigarettes”. For saying something so innocuous, this Polish goddess is facing up to two years in the slammer.

I know there are still a lot of atheists who find my “in your face” faithlessness a little disturbing, even abrasive at times. But we don’t live in a world where we are free to speak our minds just yet; religious institutions still want to silence our objections, our questions, and our anger. They do this by helping to fashion laws to scare us into silence, and because we are still so poorly represented in most of the world’s government, there’s little we can do to fight this kind of oppression.

Oh, and if you think this smokin’ hot mama is just another bimbo who doesn’t know her ass from her elbow, keep in mind that she is a card carrying member of Mensa (yeah, I know they are useless, but maybe they just want to hang out and feel smart). I’ve never believed in standard intelligence tests, but at the very least it means she isn’t a complete moron. Oh, and if you’re like me and suddenly in love, you’ll have to get through this scary guy to talk to her.

(Update: Her conviction was eventually overturned by EU courts, but it was a tough battle)

Remember Harry Taylor, the British man who was tried and found guilty of ‘religiously aggravated harassment’ for leaving some flyers making fun of religion in the prayer room at an airport? He was just sentenced today and got an Anti-Social Behavior Order along with a six month suspended sentence. The ABSO – a creepy little UK legal order basically allowing courts to make legal things illegal – means Taylor is no longer allowed to carry around anti-religion material in public.

Now on one hand I’m happy Taylor didn’t get the potential 7 years jail time his charges could have resulted in. But on the other, much larger pulsing neon hand of WTF, I’m still shocked: a) he was ever charged in the first place, b) he was found guilty of this retarded ‘crime’, and c) barely anyone seemed to care about this story, especially since the Ireland blasphemy thing became such a big deal. But here’s a guy charged, found guilty, and given a criminal record over offending some religious people and barely anyone has said boo.

Remember Ireland’s blasphemy law “reform”? A few months ago I reported that the Irish government had proposed changing their existing Defamation Bill (which made blasphemy a crime punishable by jail time) into something a little more profitable. Irish atheists have decided to challenge this new law, which states that any blasphemy can be punished with a fine of up to €25,000. They published a number of quotes from notable artists Bjork, Salman Rushdie and Mark Twain. They hope by baiting the government, they can force them to repeal this insane law.

A person breaks the law by saying or publishing anything “grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion.”

It’s a pretty badass move on their part, and I sincerely hope the government takes the bait. There’s no better way to expose this cowardly law for the free speech killer it is. If religions are so convinced they have the unalterable truth, why the fuck are they so scared of dissent? If they really do have the truth, wouldn’t they benefit from us challenging them if we’re so wrong?

Apart from the amazing fact there are more women than men in this tiny country (this fact in itself should encourage you to visit, guys), the country’s atheist population is surging. According to this article, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, is essentially non-religious (his predecessor was also agnostic), and his whole country is becoming more and more secular. It’s estimated if the current irreligious trend continues, Atheism will overtake Christianity is about 10 years.

Now before everyone pats themselves on the back for making such inroads into godlessness, there are a few caveats which prevent me from declaring New Zealand the mecca of atheism. The biggest shame is their blasphemy law, which makes it illegal to publish materials that vilify, ridicule, or offend Christians.

We have the same cowardly laws here in Canada as well, although because of our perceived “cultural diversity”, it can be twisted to incorporate just about any religion. The only way to defend yourself against this terrible law is to have expressed yourself in “good faith and decent language”. In other words, I’m not allowed to say “fuck you, Christianity, and shove your false self righteousness so far up your ass that even your pathetic man-god can’t find it”. (note, our laws have since been changed!)

Fight back against this kind of bullshit, Kiwis! Don’t let yourselves be bullied by insecure, overly litigious Christians who hate it when they are told their beliefs are wrong. 10 years isn’t really too far away, so it’s time to make plans for what happens after you dethrone these religious zealots. May I suggest eliminating that stupid law first?

You can always tell how confident a religion is by the amount of laws they throw around to ‘protect’ their faith. Blasphemy laws represent perhaps the most obvious example of the cowardly nature of organized religion: they are created specifically to punish anyone who questions the power of these organizations and their masters. The latest casualty in the fight against religious tyranny is Iranian singer Mohsen Namjoo, who recorded (privately, according to him) a song disparaging the Koran. It was leaked on the Internet, and so a judge has sentenced him in absentia to 5 years in jail.

Mohsen lent his voice in condemning the June 12th Iranian election results, so I’m suspicious the main reason for such a harsh sentence is political. So long as religions and governments are intertwined, unjust blasphemy laws will continue to jail people for the ‘crime’ of being skeptical. How can any human being truly be free when they cannot even express their opinions on religion? If the truth of Islam is so overwhelming, why are they so afraid of dissent?

If you live in a country without bullshit blasphemy laws, consider yourself fortunate. Islam Samhan, a 27 year old Jordanian, is facing up to a year in jail and a 10,000 Jordanian Dinar (14,000 US dollar) fine for his poetry book. The government claims he was blasphemous, but Islam contends the real reason he is being prosecuted is because of his unkind words about Arab rulers. Clearly, these guys don’t see a difference between speaking against God, and speaking against them.

These are what blasphemy laws are intended to do: silence dissenters who disagree with the established social order. Since these governments are essentially theocracies, any political action becomes a threat to the church, and can therefore be punished by blasphemy laws. It transforms what are otherwise political prisoners into religious heretics, effectively silencing dissent, and making their pious population revile these individuals. It’s why we have to fight these and other similar laws (remember the anti-blasphemy laws proposed by some of the countries in the UN?). We cannot allow free speech to be destroyed by these small minded idiots!

Alright, you guys in Ireland need to get your shit together. When reading this article on a proposed “Defamation Bill“, I had failed to realize it was already a crime to defame religion in your Republic. The problem is, of course, the very concept of ‘freedom of speech’ conflicts with any special provisions meant to protect religion. Apparently, having +90% of your population actual believers isn’t enough. These religious institutions need to be protected from slander too! Here’s part of article 40 of their Constitution:

“(6.1) The State guarantees liberty for the exercise of the following rights, subject to public order and morality:–
(i) The right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions.
The education of public opinion being, however, a matter of such grave import to the common good, the State shall endeavor to ensure that organs of public opinion, such as the radio, the press, the cinema, while preserving their rightful liberty of expression, including criticism of Government policy, shall not be used to undermine public order or morality or the authority of the State. The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law.

I guess the problem is that no one uses this law, since their own Supreme Court can’t seem to decide what constitutes as blasphemy under the umbrella of free speech. What a surprise! Who knew curbing free speech could be so difficult? Well, now the government wants to move to plan B, which is to make offending religion a crime you have to pay money for if you get caught. It’s usually a lot easier to get convictions, and I’m sure those religious nut jobs love the idea of blasphemers becoming financially bankrupt for daring to say Catholicism sucks ass. The wording of the bill lays it out to make everything crystal clear:

Blasphemous matter” is defined as matter “that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion; and he or she intends, by the publication of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage.”

Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section, the court may issue a warrant authorizing the Garda Síochána [their police force] to enter, if necessary using reasonable force, a premises where the member of the force has reasonable grounds for believing there are copies of the blasphemous statements in order to seize them.

Great. That’s not scary at all! Would that make my fans in Ireland (I think I have 2 or three over there) get fined for downloading my show? Guys, you gotta get your asses and gear and defeat this horrible bill, please!