Five bizarre blasphemy cases

23 Aug 12 | Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa

An 11-year-old girl with Down’s Syndrome was last week arrested in Pakistan, after an angry mob demanded that the girl be punished for allegedly desecrating the Qur’an — the Islamic holy book. The young girl is a resident of a Christian neighbourhood on the outskirts of Islamabad, from where over 600 citizens have now fled after calls for her arrest were accompanied by threats to burn Christian homes in the area. This isn’t the first blasphemy case we’ve seen come out of Pakistan — earlier this year, charges were brought against Facebook for hosting “blasphemous content”. In September 2011, a young Christian school girl was expelled for misspelling a word on an exam question tied to a poem revering the prophet Muhammad.

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Polish star Doda faces prosecution for insulting religion

05 May 10 | Uncategorized

Doda (or Dorota Rabczewska, as it says on her birth certificate), is, according to CNN, one of the top 10 famous poles ever!

The “Polish Britney Spears” has found herself in trouble, however, after saying she believed more in dinosaurs rather than the Bible because “it is hard to believe in something written by people who drank too much wine and smoked herbal cigarettes.”

Following complaints from conservative Catholic groups, Doda now faces prosecution for “insulting religious feelings”, a crime that can carry a prison sentence of up to two years under Polish law.

This, surely, illustrates a problem with legislating for feelings. How does one prove whether a person, never mind a religious group, gets hurt feelings? And how hurtful does something have to be before it’s illegal?

Don’t we all get hurt feelings sometimes?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zI3_pnUU3k