#work rss Apple RSS The Irish Times - Debate [p?c1=2&c2=8946263&cv=2.0&cj=1] IFRAME: //www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-M9Q373 * Search * Newsletters * Crossword * Notices * My Account * Sign Out * Subscribe * Sign In [adserv|3.0|826.1|4268923|0|225|ADTECH;loc=300;target=_blank;kvtopic=Op inion;cookie=info;] Menu The Irish Times Sun, Jan 17, 2016 ^Sign In Welcome * The Irish Times * News * Sport * Business * Opinion * Life & Style * Culture * More * Video * Podcasts * Executive Jobs * Subscribe * My Account * Sign Out * Sign In * * Opinion * Editorials * Letters * Columnists * An Irishman's Diary * Opinion & Analysis * Martyn Turner By using this website, you consent to our use of cookies. For more information on cookies see our Cookie Policy. (BUTTON) X Why a referendum on blasphemy is long overdue Given its stranglehold on societies for generations, religion should be poked and prodded Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 12:01 Updated: Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 07:33 Una Mullally People hold panels to create the eyes of late Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, known as “Charb”, as French citizens take part in a solidarity march (Marche Republicaine) in the streets of Paris on Sunday. Photograph: Reuters/Yves Herman People hold panels to create the eyes of late Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, known as “Charb”, as French citizens take part in a solidarity march (Marche Republicaine) in the streets of Paris on Sunday. Photograph: Reuters/Yves Herman In 2012 Stéphane Charbonnier – aka “Charb” – told Le Monde newspaper: “I’d rather die standing up than live on my knees.” The statement, which Charbonnier, the editor of Charlie Hebdo, prefaced with, “What I’m about to say is maybe a little pompous,” was borrowed from Emiliano Zapata, a leader of the Mexican revolution. Charlie Hebdo’s editor-in-chief Gérard Biard, who was in London at the time his workplace was attacked, put things slightly more bluntly in the same interview: “If we say to religion, ‘you are untouchable’, we’re f****ed.” I would imagine the staff of Charlie Hebdo believed, as many smart tricksters do, that sacred cows are there to be slaughtered. There is a delight in knocking things off pedestals, because they tend to get there by bullying. Truly egalitarian societies should be immune to special statuses born from piousness, pomposity or privilege, while protecting those who are oppressed by the same. With that in mind, we should examine the grandiose status afforded religion in our own Republic. Article 40.6.1.i of our Constitution marks blasphemy out as a criminal offence: “The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law.” A referendum amending the Constitution’s statement on blasphemy is long overdue. Barstool simplification Freedom of expression is a more useful term than “free speech”, which people can sometimes take to mean: I have the right to say whatever I want, and screw the consequences. In the aftermath of incidents such as the horrific Charlie Hebdo attack, “free speech” is thrown around a lot, especially online. It’s surprising how often people need to be reminded, while they’re ranting away on Facebook or acting like their own individual news service on Twitter, that we do not live in the United States of America and do not have an equivalent to their first amendment in our Constitution. “Free speech!” is a redundant catch-all term in most contexts, the type of barstool oversimplification that’s emitted mid-debate, such as: “Possession is nine-tenths of the law!” It’s difficult to truly understand how the perimeters of freedom of expression contract and expand from country to country, because it’s almost impossible to place oneself in the cultural context of a nation that is not one’s own. When La Marseillaise was booed at a football match between France and Algeria in 2001, the former took grave offence. Yet Sinéad O’Connor performed a new version of Amhrán na bhFiann at a recent concert in Ireland without the prospect of facing a fine. The Sex Pistols were perfectly entitled to sing “God save the Queen, the fascist regime”, but move that context to Thailand (and change “Queen” to “King”), and the law of lèse-majesté, even in their most recent (2007) constitution, could see such a lyric punished with imprisonment. Jesus is a frequent subject of cartoons, yet there is a clearly a difference between how comfortable Christians are with his image being lampooned and how comfortable Muslims are with Muhammad being lampooned. Christians can’t understand that, because they don’t practise Islam. The desire to remove blasphemy from our Constitution is for a lot of people probably not just an urge born from the principles of freedom of expression, but a resentment of the domination of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Such a resentment is well-placed, but we should check our own emotional biases in this matter, and do what is right for the Republic. Regarding other expressions, the desire to call people out for homophobia, sexism and racism, for example, is not about infringing freedom of expression, but about protecting others from hate speech. The desire to republish cartoons lampooning Muhammad in the aftermath of what happened in Paris was not just about freedom of expression, it was also about an emotional defiance in the face of extremism. The Proclamation of our own Republic declared: “The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally,” a statement that is probably better to adhere to than some of the content of our Constitution and legislation, which at times curtails equal rights and opportunities. Stranglehold Charlie Hebdo’s lampooning of Islam (along with its cartoons at the expense of other religions and equally pious political figures) is not about religious intolerance or any kind of sectarianism but about pushing boundaries. Religion, given its stranglehold on societies for generations, should be poked and prodded. But for some keen to criticise Islam, their enthusiasm is born from their own intolerance of that religion, not an enthusiasm for the values of satire itself. In the aftermath of the killings in Paris, Salman Rushdie said: “Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms . . . I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity.” He should know. Read More * March for unity the biggest rally in Paris since 1944 * My son just said: ‘one must not draw the prophet’ * Paris pays tribute to three dead police officers – and says ‘Merci’ Subscribe. More from The Irish Times * Opinion “The takeaway message from its negative poster this week might be that it has ceded control of the narrative to Fine Gael.” Photograph: Eric Luke / The Irish Times Fianna Fáil is changing but not quickly enough * Opinion Soldiers attend Mise Eire. George Morrison’s film showed over twenty years of Irish history, from the 1890s to 1918, through existing archive material. Its soundtrack, an orchestral score by Sean O’Riada, became hugely popular Anne Harris: O’Riada’s epic clash of cymbals became a clash of symbols * Opinion The General Post Office from Abbey St after the 1916 Easter Rising: Royal Irish Academy JT Westropp RIA Opinion: Did the 1916 Rising meet the requirements for a ‘just war’? * Opinion Breda O’Brien: Ultrasound is the biggest enemy of abortion on demand ADVERTISEMENT [adserv|3.0|826.1|4268925|0|170|ADTECH;loc=300;target=_blank;kvtopic=Op inion;cookie=info;] ADVERTISEMENT The Irish Times Logo Sign In Email Address ____________________ Password ____________________ [ ] I agree to the Terms & Conditions, Community Standards and Privacy Policy (BUTTON) Sign In Don't have an account? Sign Up Forgot Password? The Irish Times Logo Sign Up First Name ____________________ Surname ____________________ Screen Name ____________________ The name that will appear beside your comments. Email Address ____________________ Confirm Email Address ____________________ Password ____________________ Confirm Password ____________________ [ ] I agree to the Terms & Conditions, Community Standards and Privacy Policy [ ] I would also like to receive occasional update emails from The Irish Times (BUTTON) Create Account Have an account? Sign In The Irish Times Logo Forgot Password? Please enter your email address so we can send you a link to reset your password. Email Address ____________________ (BUTTON) Submit Sign In or Sign Up The Irish Times Logo Thank you You should receive instructions for resetting your password. When you have reset your password, you can Sign In. The Irish Times Logo Hello, . Please choose a screen name. This name will appear beside any comments you post. Your screen name should follow the standards set out in our community standards. Screen Name ____________________ (BUTTON) Confirm The Irish Times Logo Thank you for registering. Please check your email to verify your account. (BUTTON) Sign In (BUTTON) Close Your Comments Sign In Sign Out We reserve the right to remove any content at any time from this Community, including without limitation if it violates the Community Standards. We ask that you report content that you in good faith believe violates the above rules by clicking the Flag link next to the offending comment or by filling out this form. New comments are only accepted for 3 days from the date of publication. Editorials Guarding the guardians Garda Ombudsman accesses journalists’ phone records The silent victims of austerity Children’s rights: Ireland appears before UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Our Columnists Breda O'Brien Breda O'Brien - Breda O’Brien: Ultrasound is the biggest enemy of abortion on demand Cliff Taylor Cliff Taylor - Election 2016: Get ready to be hit by a digital deluge Paul Gillespie Paul Gillespie - Worldview: Ireland should recognise Palestine if peace talks fail Donald Clarke Donald Clarke - Chief Film Correspondent Donald Clarke: Irish Oscar nods were due to great expectations ADVERTISEMENT [adserv|3.0|826.1|4268924|0|170|ADTECH;loc=300;target=_blank;kvtopic=Op inion;cookie=info;] Letters Crisis in emergency departments French Jews and wearing the kippa Mathematics at third level Women’s rights here and abroad Protecting children online National anthem and copyright law Walking routes and public health Global factors and the economy Investing in rural Ireland Oscar bravo Question Time Question Time: What can be done to address the shortage of Catholic priests? 2:34 Question Time: What can be done to address the shortage of Catholic priests? Question Time: Will Leo Varadkar’s latest plans resolve the hospital waiting list crisis? 1:48 Question Time: Will Leo Varadkar’s latest plans resolve the hospital waiting list crisis? Question Time: Will the Coalition voting pact help to boost Labour’s fortunes? 1:31 Question Time: Will the Coalition voting pact help to boost Labour’s fortunes? Most Read 1 Television: A sugar-crash course in how we are poisoning ourselves 2 Conservative Germany is ‘mad as hell’ over Merkel’s policies 3 Gardaí say remains those of man who died in recent days 4 Bhutan: the price of paradise 5 Isis ‘kills 300 people’ in Deir al-Zor, Syrian government says Never miss a story. SUBSCRIBE Subscribe About Us Policy & Terms Subscribe * Subscription Bundles * Gift Subscriptions * Home Delivery Irish Times Products & Services * ePaper * eBooks * Crosswords * Newspaper Archive * Dating * Ancestors * Email Alerts & Newsletters * Article Archive * Executive Jobs * Page Sales * Photo Sales About Us * Advertise * Contact Us * The Irish Times Trust * Careers Download on the App Store Download on Google Play * Our Partners * Rewarding Times * MyHome.ie * Irish Racing * Entertainment.ie * Top 1000 * MyAntiques.ie * The Gloss * Irish Times Training * Terms & Conditions * Privacy Policy * Cookie Information * Community Standards * Copyright * FAQs © 2015 THE IRISH TIMES For the best site experience please enable JavaScript in your browser settings Sign In ____________________ ____________________ (BUTTON) Sign In Forgot Password? Don't have an account? Subscribe * Subscriber quick links * Newspaper Archive * Crossword Club * IT Sunday * eBooks * Subscriber Benefits * My Account * Sign Out SUBSCRIBE ____________________ (BUTTON) Sun 17/1/2016 * News + Election 2016 + Ireland + World + Politics + Crime & Law + Social Affairs + Health + Education * Sport + Rugby + Soccer + Gaelic Games + Golf + Racing + Other Sports + Women in Sport + Comment * Business + The Economy + Your Money + Companies + Technology + Work + Commercial Property + Comment * Opinion + Editorials + Letters + Columnists + An Irishman's Diary + Opinion & Analysis + Martyn Turner * Life & Style + Food & Drink + Homes & Property + Health & Family + People + Travel + Motors + Fashion * Culture + Books + Film + Music + Stage + Art & Design + TV, Radio, Web + Treibh * More + You are what you read + eBooks + Offers + Jobs + Family Notices + Dating + Competitions * Video + Film Show + New to the Parish + Give Me Five + Feast * Podcasts + Inside Politics + World View + Second Captains + Business + Róisín Meets + Off Topic + The Women's Podcast * Executive Jobs * Crosswords * Newsletters * Notices ____________________ (BUTTON) ____________________ ____________________ Forgot Password? (BUTTON) Sign In Invalid email or password. Subscriber quick links * Newspaper Archive * Crossword Club * ePaper desktop app * IT Sunday * eBooks * Subscriber Benefits * My Account