Here is why free speech is so worth defending, and why it is so particularly important in the USA. In Europe, they just upheld laws prohibiting the criticism of religion or religious figures. It's mind-boggling. aa.com.tr/en/europe/defa… 1/
This is truly ridiculous. European Court of Human Rights [sic] rules that defaming the Prophet Muhammed “goes beyond the permissible limits of an objective debate" & "could stir up prejudice" and thus exceeds permissible limits of freedom of expression. aa.com.tr/en/europe/defa… 2/
Do the judges know their own philosophical heritage? Did they bypass the Enlightenment altogether? These are the sort of people who gave us witch-burning centuries ago. 3/
It's not just Islam one is not allowed to criticize. An activist in Spain faced summons to court in connection with a 2017 Facebook post ridiculing God and the Virgin Mary. via @coviolgrand elpais.com/elpais/2018/09… 4/
Or this: A one-year (suspended) jail sentence & seven years’ disqualification from holding a public position was meted out to 21-year-old Spanish college studentwho tweeted jokes about a 1973 ETA bombing! American college students should pay attention. elpais.com/elpais/2017/04… 5/
Not to be left out, the Greeks do the same thing! A man who created a Facebook page poking fun at a revered Greek Orthodox monk was sentenced to 10 months in prison, guilty of blasphemy! Prison for blasphemy in Europe in 2012! via @gathanasak mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/id… 6/
Eurobarometer survey in 2010 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_… reveals that there are many countries where only a minority believe in good. Imagine if courts there ruled that to express these ideas were punishable by jail or fine (as the obverse cases above). 7/
Artists (actually everyone!) in Europe should be very worried. Look at some of the modern examples of art and ideas that would make one susceptible to charges of blasphemy and imprisonment. bbc.com/culture/story/… But great painters in bygone times also criticized religion. 8/
Should we take artists' paintings out of museums lest someone be offended? Say you wanted to mock Catholicism or Islam (with a sculpture, painting, or a costume, even) because you had been abused as a child by a minister, or for any reason? 9/
Meanwhile, Ireland JUST went to the polls to withdraw blasphemy laws which are seen as "largely [sic!?] obsolete." cnn.com/2018/10/25/eur… 10/
And here is a 2018 #EuropeanBlashemy example from Poland, via @CathyYoung63 re a pop singer who was convicted of “religious insult” and fined approx. 1040 GBP for comments she made regarding the authors of the Bible in an interview to a news website! article19.org/resources/pola… 11/
How can Europeans have standing to criticize inhumane and absurd blasphemy laws in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, etc., if their own countries — and courts! — feature such absurdities. google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.… 12/
Eurobarometer in 2010 (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_…) shows many countries where only a minority believe in god. Imagine if courts in those counties ruled that to express *religious* ideas was punishable by jail or fine (ie obverse of these cases of #EuropeanBlashemy). [#7 edited] 13/
