Freedom of Speech Versus Blasphemy - Christianity

Christianity

• In 1886, American freethinker Robert G. Ingersoll defended Charles B. Reynolds, a Boonton, New Jersey man on blasphemy charges. Reynolds lost the case and was fined $50, which Ingersoll paid himself. Ingersoll's defense of Reynolds cast serious constitutional doubts on blasphemy laws and few states have attempted to prosecute a blasphemy charge since.
• In 1933, the Norwegian author Arnulf Øverland was tried for blasphemy after giving a lecture named Kristendommen - den tiende landeplage ("Christianity - the tenth plague"), but was acquitted. No one has ever been tried for blasphemy in Norway since.
• In 1951, Italian neorealist Roberto Rossellini's 40-minute film, titled The Miracle, sparked widespread moral outrage. The film centred around a man, "Saint Joseph", who villainously impregnates "Nanni", a disturbed peasant who believes herself to be the Virgin Mary. Protesters in Paris picketed the film with vitriolic signs carrying messages like "This Picture Is an Insult to Every Decent Woman and Her Mother," "Don't Be a Communist," and "Don't Enter the Cesspool." It was criticized as "vile, harmful and blasphemous." After some pressure by the Catholic Church, the New York Board of Regents revoked the film's license on grounds that it was "sacrilegious." The film's distributor, Joseph Burstyn, subsequently appealed the decision, and in 1952, it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court as unconstitutional in the case Joseph Burstyn, Inc v. Wilson.
• In 1966, Dutch author Gerard Reve was prosecuted for blasphemy, after a piece of prose he wrote described making love to God, incarnated in a three-year-old donkey. He was acquitted on the grounds that this was an artistic expression protected by freedom of speech.
• Also in 1966, Finnish author Hannu Salama was prosecuted and convicted for a book (Juhannustanssit) he had written two years earlier. His sentence was suspended, and he was finally pardoned in 1968.
• Movies subjected to criticism over allegedly blasphemous content include The Last Temptation of Christ and Monty Python's Life of Brian.
• Artist Andres Serrano's photograph Piss Christ, showing a crucifix immersed in urine, caused similar controversy, as did artist Chris Ofili's painting The Holy Virgin Mary, which depicted a black African Mary surrounded by images from blaxploitation movies and close-ups of female genitalia cut from pornographic magazines.
• In 1998, Swedish artist Elisabeth Ohlson showed her exhibition Ecce Homo which features Biblical characters refitted with LGBT themes, including Christ as an AIDS victim. Bishop Tord Harlin of Uppsala said "At best it is bad theology, at worst it is blasphemy".
• A British evangelical organisation, Christian Voice led street protests against the BBC screening of Jerry Springer – The Opera, in which one actor wears a nappy and later, whilst portraying the character of Jesus, says "I'm a bit gay". Christian Voice published the home addresses and telephone numbers of several BBC executives on their web site. This led to one of these people receiving death threats. Another organisation, the Christian Institute attempted to level blasphemy charges against the BBC. These were rejected by the High Court.
• The comedy film Dogma (1999) resulted in picketing and charges of blasphemy, and also "2 and a half" death threats made against its director Kevin Smith and producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein.
• In 2002, the author of the Spanish public domain personal computer game Slaughter Cofrade, known by the initials "J. C. C. S.," was formally accused by the Cristo del Gran Poder of violating section 525 of the penal code, which forbids any sort of "attack" on religious dogma, beliefs, or ceremonies. His game depicted the shooting of characters robed in religious clothing and carrying Christian crosses.
• In 2004, Jesus Dress Up fridge magnets, which depicts a cartoon crucified Jesus in underpants and can be dressed in Satan pajamas, sparked national controversy in the U.S. at an Urban Outfitters receiving more than 250,000 complaints after being featured on MSNBC. The retailer canceled all remaining orders with the magnet's creator Normal Bob Smith, then as a result of this attention an activism group called Laptop Lobbyists alerted the artist's web-hosting company and temporarily succeeded in shutting down the Jesus Dress Up web site.
• In 2005, Marithé and François Girbaud's parodied Leonardo's religious painting The Last Supper in a publicity poster. The Catholic Church initiated a lawsuit against the Girbauds, sparking concerns regarding freedom of expression and blasphemy. The judge qualified the poster as "an insult to Christians." The lawsuit was eventually dismissed.
• Gerhard Haderer's cartoon book The Life of Jesus was banned in Greece in 2003 under Greek laws of "blasphemy" and "insulting religion". In 2005, its author was given a six-month suspended prison sentence in absentia. Both the ban and the conviction were reversed in appeal after an outcry against the initial decision both in Greece and in Europe.
• In 2008, a punk festival in Linköping, Sweden used marketing posters showing Satan defecating on Jesus on the cross, under the slogan "Punx against christ !" The poster was taken down by the municipality of Linköping. The publication of the poster in the local newspaper Östgöta Correspondenten caused death threats to the editor-in-chief.
• On 8 September 2011 Advertising Standards Authority, UK's advertising watchdog, banned Phones4U mobile phone ad featuring an image of Jesus Christ after receiving almost 100 complaints that it "mocked and belittled" the Christian faith. According to the watchdog the cartoon picture of Jesus winking and giving a thumbs-up sign was "disrespectful to the Christian faith" and was "likely to cause serious offence, particularly to Christians."