Rand Paul spoke at this weekend’s Faith and Freedom Coalition conference and demanded an end to aid to countries that oppress Christians, noting that blasphemy laws are often used to persecute Christians in Muslim countries, especially those who convert from Islam to Christianity.
Category Archive: Free Speech
Jun 18 2013
Supreme Court Restricts Speech Again
On June 11, a federal district judge declared a law forbidding any protests on the grounds of the Supreme Court, overturning 40 U.S.C. § 6135. Two days later, the Supreme Court itself reasserted that same ban in a new regulation based on 40 U.S.C. § 6102, which says:
Jun 18 2013
WND Still on…Flag Burning? Really?
Of all the things to continue to be obsessed about, flag burning? Seriously? Yep. The Worldnutdaily apparently still thinks it matters and they’ve published an inane and inaccurate column by Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady to rail against the incredibly rare practice that was protected by the Supreme Court. Brady’s legal and historical arguments are about …
Jun 14 2013
Court Upholds Free Speech at the Supreme Court Building
On Jan. 28, 2011, Harold Hodge Jr. stood on the Supreme Court plaza in Washington DC silently wearing a sandwich board that said “The U.S. Gov. Allows Police To Illegally Murder And Brutalize African Americans And Hispanic People.” He was promptly arrested because of a 60 year old law that prohibits any form of protesting …
Jun 03 2013
Pakistani Court Orders Shutdown of ‘Blasphemous’ Facebook Pages
Continuing the long religious tradition of throwing a temper tantrum at the very thought that someone else might not believe as they do, a Pakistani court has ordered authorities in that country to block Facebook pages that it has deemed to be blasphemous.
May 18 2013
Judge Endorses Heckler’s Veto
The Dearborn Arab International Festival has been the site of many clashes between the police and Christian evangelists who go there to preach to the mostly Muslim crowd. This has resulted in several arrests that ended in acquittals and lawsuits that vindicated the protesters and forced the city to apologize. But in one case from …
May 16 2013
Bishop: No Freedom to ‘Dismiss or Disrespect’ Religious Beliefs
There’s a bit of a controversy going on at Carnegie Mellon University, where two art students are being charged with misdemeanors for indecent exposure for going to an on-campus parade partly naked. Here’s how the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette describes the incident:
May 14 2013
Moroccan Atheist On the Run
In yet another example of Muslim totalitarians trying to destroy anyone who dares to question or criticize their religion, Moroccan atheist Imad Eddin Habib is now on the run and hiding from the police, who want to arrest him for the “crime” of “shaking a Muslim’s faith.”
May 13 2013
Atheist Bloggers Arrested in Bangladesh
After weeks of rioting from Islamic fundamentalist fascists and counter-protests from supporters of freedom, the Bangladeshi government has arrested three atheist bloggers for daring to “hurt the religious feelings of the people” by, you know, expressing their beliefs.
May 11 2013
Dearborn Settles With Christian Group
The city of Dearborn has reached a settlement with a group of Christian missionaries who were arrested during the Arab International Festival in 2010. The settlement requires the city to issue an official apology for the arrests and to pay the legal fees of the plaintiffs. The American Freedom Law Center, an offshoot of the …
May 07 2013
The Westboro Baptist Church is Right
Yeah, that’s a headline I never expected to write. But the ACLU has now filed suit on behalf of the Westboro Baptist Church against law enforcement officials in Iowa who have threatened to prosecute them under that state’s flag protection statute — a law that was already struck down by a federal court.
May 02 2013
Another Clueless School Administration
Every once in a while, a religious right legal group gets one right. This is such a case. The Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund) has filed suit on behalf of a student who was told he could not hand out anti-abortion fliers to his fellow students during lunch time.
Apr 18 2013
Turkish Pianist Convicted of Blasphemy
A pianist and composer has been convicted of blasphemy and inciting religious hatred for a series of tweets criticizing Islam by the government of Turkey, allegedly the most liberal of the Muslim-dominated countries. Fazil Say was charged and convicted after quoting Persian poet Omar Khayyám:
Apr 07 2013
More Atheist Bloggers Arrested
Here is yet another tragic bit of fascism. The government in Bangladesh has arrested three atheist bloggers for blasphemy and “defaming” Islam, after weeks of demonstrations and riots by Muslim fundamentalists demanding their prosecution. But damn, this bit of framing irritates me:
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