Here's a laughable press release from a Christian group that claims "Blasphemy does not qualify as free speech".
They're wrong. It does.
They go on to claim, "Gallaudet University has no right to harm and slander the spotless reputation of the God-Man with blasphemy".
They're wrong. It does.
Look for more and more demands from fundamentalist believers of all religions that criticism of their beliefs be outlawed.
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Funny thing is, I remember when the "Gay Jesus Movie" was just an urban legend, and viral emails were calling for it to be banned (despite the fact that there are no legal grounds for banning it).
Anecdote: When my kids were about 12yo, they got that email from a Christian school chum of theirs -- and they replied rather abruptly telling him to knock it off. (Yes, we were proud)
About five years later said school chum came out gay.
God/Jesus seems utterly unable to defend himself. He needs these knuckleheads to stick up for him. I feel sorry for him.
Blasphemy is a victim-less crime.
I'm not sure a play about a gay Jesus counts as "criticism", nevertheless, the reaction by the followers of the spotless god-man is typical and not unlike the reaction caused by The Life of Brian, The Last Temptation of Christ, Dogma, and other secular depictions of Christ and/or God.
In the end, press releases like this and related demonstrations will probably do nothing more than increase attendance (after all, it's not like Christians were going to line up to see this anyway).
What gets me is that most of these same fundamentalists fear (or at least they used to when I was one) that one day the "world" will outlaw Christianity and that it would be illegal to preach the "gospel." My have times changed.
Looking for a million people who believe in Evolution in response to a Christian group looking to show the opposite.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-can-find-1000000-people-who-DO-believe-in-Evolution-before-June/252759483743?ref=mf&v=info
A little blasphemy can't hurt, besides, they can practice their long lost art of dishing out forgiveness,...
Freedom of speech is a very delicate right that we have. I believe in general we have the right to voice our opinions in regards to any topic that is up for discussion. In the United States, these freedoms are actually protected by the Bill of Rights, which basically stipulates that the government will not pass any law restricting the People of this right.
Taking that into consideration, whoever put together this production of Jesus has the right to do so, as long as he is not in violation of any other laws. For instance if they decided to perform this in an open theater "forcing" others to view it, you could make an argument for disrupting the peace. I am sure that is not the intent of the producers, and I am also sure that admission to this will be voluntary... If you don't want to see this, then don't go see it.
On the other hand, these people who are objecting to this on the grounds of blasphemy are going to have a tough time convincing anyone who is capable of rational thought that a blasphemous statement is not a protected right. Although, they do retain the right to voice their opinions on this matter.
The tough "freedom of speech" I struggle with as a veteran is this fundamental christian group that protests at the US serviceman's funerals chanting things like, "He got what he deserved." They basically believe that God is punishing the US for all their sins by killing their soldiers. They are entitled to their right to have that opinion, and voice it. I believe that assembling yards away from a funeral constitutes as a gross violation of disturbing the peace, not to mention just an momentousness disrespect for the serviceman who gave up his life for their right to voice their opinions...
My 2 cents..
As soon as I saw the word "blasphemy" in your post, it set off bells.
Ah yes, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini used that word in his article, "It is now blasphemy to criticize Darwin."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2482011/posts
FYI only. No point is being made.
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