Archive for the 'Free Speech'

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. Read more

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. Read more

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: Read more

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: Read more

Not content with arresting atheists and Christians for blasphemy and insulting the incredibly delicate feelings of the Muslim majority, the Egyptian government has now issued an arrest warrant against a satirist who has dared to make fun of the government and Muslim clerics. Read more