In contemporary politics two conflicting trends have influenced freedom of expression. The first confirms that many Western countries have become less strict about sacrilegious expression and repealed their blasphemy laws or withdrew much of their punishment for blasphemy. Yet the second trend manifests in an opposing movement, often couched in terms of religious freedom, which attempts to reconcile free speech with freedom of religion by punishing expressions deemed, for instance, “hate speech.” With contributions by scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this book offers an examination of topical issues relating to both of these movements, looking at freedom of expression, censorship, and blasphemy in contemporary multicultural democracies.
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Preface
- Foreword - Blasphemy: A Victimless Crime or a Crime in Search of a Victim?
- 1. General Introduction
- 2. Blasphemy and the Law: The Fall and Rise of a Legal Non Sequitur
- 3. The English Law of Blasphemy: The “Melancholy, Long, Withdrawing Roar”
- 4. On the Life and Times of the Dutch Blasphemy Law (1932–2014)
- 5. Death of a Princess
- 6. Rushdie’s Critics
- 7. John Stuart Mill’s “If All Mankind Minus One” Tested in a Modern Blasphemy Case
- 8. Religious Freedom and Blasphemy Law in a Global Context: The Concept of Religious Defamation
- 9. Blasphemy, Multiculturalism and Free Speech in Modern Britain
- Bibliography
- List of Contributors
- Index
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