http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2009/09/24/blasphemy-contest-enter-now/ News & Views from a Secular Perspective Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:07:23 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2009/09/24/blasphemy-contest-enter-now/#comment-992 Edwin Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:23:27 +0000 http://www.palibandaily.com/?p=1398#comment-992 Let me preface this by declaring that I am not an atheist, though every organized religion rejects my personal conception of a "supreme being". It seems to me that blasphemy can only apply to someone who believes in gods and religions. If one is of the opinion that gods do not exist, then from their point of view, it cannot be blasphemy. The concept of blasphemy protects superstitious people from having to entertain the idea that others do not share their superstition. Superstitious belief only happens between the ears of a believer, it is not representative of any fundamental reality, no matter how much any superstitious person declares that it does. The danger of superstition comes when superstitious people attempt to implement actions in the real world, through violence and control. I have my own superstitions, beliefs that are mine, they are personal and they happen in my head and help me to deal with my existence. It is not my right to tell anyone that my belief is better than theirs, nor is it anyone else's right to to tell me their belief is better than mine. However, should we wish to enter into discourse and examine our beliefs against each other, there should be no inhibition to that. If there ate things that cannot be mentioned or discussed, opinions that cannot be examined and tested, then society stagnates. Ireland with its new anti-blasphemy laws is asking to eventually shrug off all social development it has made and could eventually reduce it self to a society like Saudi Arabia, where violence is the response to any thought that contravenes the orthodox. Let me preface this by declaring that I am not an atheist, though every organized religion rejects my personal conception of a “supreme being”. It seems to me that blasphemy can only apply to someone who believes in gods and religions. If one is of the opinion that gods do not exist, then from their point of view, it cannot be blasphemy. The concept of blasphemy protects superstitious people from having to entertain the idea that others do not share their superstition. Superstitious belief only happens between the ears of a believer, it is not representative of any fundamental reality, no matter how much any superstitious person declares that it does. The danger of superstition comes when superstitious people attempt to implement actions in the real world, through violence and control. I have my own superstitions, beliefs that are mine, they are personal and they happen in my head and help me to deal with my existence. It is not my right to tell anyone that my belief is better than theirs, nor is it anyone else’s right to to tell me their belief is better than mine. However, should we wish to enter into discourse and examine our beliefs against each other, there should be no inhibition to that. If there ate things that cannot be mentioned or discussed, opinions that cannot be examined and tested, then society stagnates. Ireland with its new anti-blasphemy laws is asking to eventually shrug off all social development it has made and could eventually reduce it self to a society like Saudi Arabia, where violence is the response to any thought that contravenes the orthodox.

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