Blasphemy
Blasphemy is forbidden by § 140 of the penal code:
- Anybody who publicly mocks or insults any in this country legally existing religious community tenets of faith or worship, will be punished by fine or imprisonment for up to 4 months.
However, there is very little legal tradition for actually punishing anyone for violating this article. Legal tradition seems to establish that debate and art are not punishable under the blasphemy-article. The article has not been used since 1938 when a Nazi group was convicted for antisemitic propaganda. The hate speech article (§266b) is used more frequently. Abolition of the blasphemy article was proposed in 1972-73 and again in 2004, but none of the proposals were adopted.
Read more about this topic: Freedom Of Speech And Freedom Of The Press In Denmark
Famous quotes containing the word blasphemy:
“All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.”
—Bible: New Testament Matthew 12:31.
“And it seems to me a blasphemy to say that the Holy Spirit is Love. In the Old Testament it is an Eagle: in the New it is a Dove. Christ insists on the Dove: but in His supreme moments He includes the Eagle.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Long as I have lived, and many blasphemers as I have heard and seen, I have never yet heard or witnessed any direct and conscious blasphemy or irreverence; but of indirect and habitual, enough. Where is the man who is guilty of direct and personal insolence to Him that made him?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)