An article on cearta.ie drew my attention to a surprisingly archaic provision in the newly passed Defamation Bill – Article 36 (page 26). Fianna Fáil have finally proven themselves to be bible bashers after managing to codify blasphemy as a criminal offence in Irish law. The shrewd ultra-conservative right-wingers slyly included the blasphemy provision in the Defamation Bill in their successful attempt to push it through the Oireachtas without raising too many eyebrowes. The Ministor for Justice, Dermot Ahern, defended the provision, saying “Until the Constitution is amended, it is necessary that a sanction be provided in regard to blasphemous libel”… although I don’t see how this could be the case.

In conformanced with the principle of non-discrimination, I assume that the paragraph of the Bill that mentions its application to any “matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion” will also be enforced in the event of disrespect towards other, non-Christian religions. I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to warn the cartoon artists who created the controvertial depictions of Muhammad for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005, to reconsider any possible holiday plans that may involve visiting Ireland. They would be risking a substantial fine and possibly even receiving a criminal record should they enter the Irish state.

Considering that Fianna Fáil, the party that supported the blasphemy law, is the most popular political party in Ireland, the cartoonists should be wary of the possible hostile reaction of Fianna Fáil supporters upon their arrival as they unleash their fury at the insult to Muhammad. Muslim countries with similar regimes to Ireland in this respect experienced much violence in reaction to the cartoons which was directed at European representations in their countries. The Danish Embassies in several countries were set on fire. The cartoonists should, therefore, be made aware that any attempt to seek refuge in the Danish Embassy in Dublin may be futile and dangerous.

Ok, I obviously exaggerate, and there is, admittedly, a clause that exempts the matter concerned if the defendant manages to prove that “a reasonable person would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value in the matter to which the offence relates“. Nevertheless, proving this could be very arbitrary and, in any case, the point that criminalising blasphemy has no place in Irish law needs to be impressed on the incumbent Fianna Fáil – Green Party government somehow.

I recognise the importance of religion in society, however, it does seem that Fianna Fáil blinked and missed the moment when Ireland entered the 21st century…. or perhaps it is me who does not realise that Ireland has been left in the 19th century while the rest of Europe moves forward, already enjoying, in most part, the freedom of secular government. In 2008, England and Wales abolished their blasphemy laws with the enactment of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. The United States considers blasphemy laws to be a violation of the First Amendment and the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech. The Assembly of the Council of Europe “considers that blasphemy, as an insult to a religion, should not be deemed a criminal offence” (Recommendation 1805, 2007).

Religion should be an intimate, personal dimension of the citizen that the state should refrain from interfering with. This blasphemy provision must rank as one of the worst aspects of the medieval body of law of the Irish Juristiction, alongside criminalised debt default. Another law exists whereby people who are simply unable to repay a loan are criminally prosecuted and imprisoned. The latter offence should be treated as a regulatory offence with punishment involving the seizure of assets or bankrupcy. The former should not even be considered legally as an offence.

In contrast, while these Dickensian artifacts of Irish law are regularly enforced, there has yet to be a single prosecution or even criminal charges resulting from the investigations into possible fraud and negligence involving Irish banking executives and the former Financial Regulator. Those who were conveniently “forced” into retirement after having brought the country to its knees, are currently enjoying the benefits of an extremely generous pension, while the Irish taxpayer tries to pick up the pieces of a country verging on bankrupcy.

Anecdotally, in the process of getting the bill passed (it initially failed), the government had to round-up two missing senators who were  probably (I postulate) in the Dáil bar having a pint of guinness (not the official excuse of course). In addition to Ireland unilaterally establishing the foundations of a new European Bible Belt, the Irish government has aptly demonstrated the waste of space and money that is Seanad Éireann in its current form. Even the senators themselves don’t seem to take it seriously.

Update 11 July 2009:

Further to comments submitted on this article, I think it is only fair to recognise them by adding that the Ministor for Justice, Dermot Ahern, was stating the truth about the need to include the blasphemy clause for constitutional reasons.  He also corrects me in stating that the last prosecution for blasphemy occurred in 1909. See the comments for further details.

Let’s see how long it takes for a referendum to be held to bring our outdated constitution into the 21st century…

comment from someone about yesterday’s celebration of Independence Day in the US caught my attention. The general gist of the comment concerned colonisation, exploitation of slave labour and genocide of native americans. It struck me as valid but ironic, considering that similar processes took place in many places around the world and throughout history.

The people that originally populated Ireland were hunter-gathers and subsistence farmers whose spiritual beliefs involved worship of the forces of nature. Despite some obvious disadvantages such as poor medical technology, the hunter-gatherers had a highly sustainable system with respect to their environmental impact. Being illiterate is usually considered a disadvantage, however, that view should be placed in the context of our society. It is a disadvantage for a member or our society to be illiterate, however, if the entire society were illiterate, I would consider it to be a characteristic rather than a disadvantage. The first natives were more simple and relied on story-telling and teaching to pass wisdom and folklore down from generation to generation.

Inevitably, successive waves of immigrants and conquerors wiped out their way of life. In contrast to the hunter-gatherers, our current system provides the means, motivation and knowledge for humans to expand and dominate to the greatest extent that the environment can bear, and probably beyond – possibly eventually endangering the survival of entire human populations.

The advantages of using money as a medium of exchange and as a store of value were critical to the evolution of the current system. Once one or a few forms of money such commodities (especially gold) or more sophisticated notes of legal tender became widely accepted, people could benefit from its flexibility to expand, trade and establish commercial enterprises. Eventually, the mercantilism of early colonial expansion began to transform the world. Capitalism and the pursuit of profit provided the motivation for expansion, and the political and social obstacles gradually diminished to the extent that laissez-faire capitalism was unleashed.

Gutenberg’s invention of the mechanical printing press widely dispersed the knowledge required for expansion and spurred the industrial revolution. Another main factor was the development of modern intensive agriculture. This provides people with the surplus of resources that allow them to colonise and dominate vast regions, and in the process, decimate the natural environment  to an even greater extent than industry (more of this in a future article) .

I lament the destruction of the native american way of life… but to be honest (and blunt), it was probably inevitable once any one of the more aggressive civilisations developed the technology to cross oceans en masse. Native americans lived in a vast and fertile land which would be a prime objective of any expansionist civilisation. I suppose human beings are participating in the same darwinian struggle as any other animal – survival of the fittest. Anyway, the point being- which wave of immigrants or conquerers are present-day Irish people from? Actually we’re the end result of many incidences of the peaceful blending of different populations in some cases, and violent mass genocide in others.

It would be unfair to place the blame for the brutality of colonialism on our predecessors in Europe who were ignorant of the dangers and educated differently, or the current citizens of modern democratic countries in the “new world” that were founded on conquest, slavery and exploitation. Any advancement, be it social, political, technological or economic, tends to come before society learns to use its new tools wisely, so it is usually and predictably abused.  We ourselves are products of the system and cannot simply eliminate capitalism and technology which forms the basis of our entire society, however, we can and should tame its extremes with sensible regulation, education, and major changes to our lifestyles. At least, perhaps, now that we have the knowledge, the urgent need for fundamental change will dawn on us.