Is a law prohibiting blasphemy, blasphemous? [Spirituality & Religion]

@Qwerty14 I don't know when the last successful prosecution for blasphemy in the UK was. I believe their was an unsuccessful private one several years ago.

Why do you say my logic is a bit off? The law is about protecting the christian god from criticism, not its followers.

@suzie1960 Because you said:

[quote]Such a law implies a presumption that an "almighty god" isn't able to defend itself[/quote]

Which it doesn't. It just means people don't want you hating on their religion.

@Qwerty14 Sorry, I disagree. The UK law is all about protecting the christian god. There are other laws providing protection for individuals from religious discrimination, regardless of which religion they follow.

@suzie1960 I'm only really aware of the NZ law but I assumed we adopted it from you guys. That one is really just about protecting religious freedom from hate groups. Like the Nazis could all be arrested in NZ purely on their publications against religion. Creating a book like Mein Kampf breaks this law especially so you could easily target and arrest someone trying to "pull a Hitler".

This is an extreme example but the rules apply. Mostly in NZ it's a rule for show and holds almost no weight. Only one man ever went to court over it and that was in 1923

@Qwerty14 The difference here is that the blasphemy law is not about protecting religious freedom, if anything it inhibits it because it only protects one religion. I wouldn't say it's just for show here because it's largely forgotten about.

@suzie1960 Does it actually only protect the CoE? Because then I'd say it has a lot more to do with treason than religion. The church is the head of state so to go against the church is to go against the crown

@Qwerty14 I believe it protects all forms of christianity, including catholicism even though the monarch cannot be a catholic. There would be no point to a blasphemy law if going against the CoE were already classed as treason.

@suzie1960 If God has no power then the Queen has no power. So the Queen has to protect the church to keep her power

@Qwerty14 I don't follow your logic. The Queen has power in her own right, she doesn't need a god or the church.

@suzie1960 Yeah that's not how it works. The Monarch is anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury during coronation symbolising God choosing them to lead. They are also supreme governor of the church and the only member to outrank the Archbishop. The archbishop in turn is appointed via the Prime Minister (with the Queen's blessing) further showing how the CoE and government are linked.

@Qwerty14 It's all pomp and circumstance, I doubt the queen would be deposed if the church shut up shop tomorrow. In theory the queen can do whatever she wants and all legislation has to be approved by her but, in practice, she can't exercise that power. The role of the church in appointing (or anointing) the monarch is much the same, purely symbolic.

@suzie1960 She is still head of the church and is given her power via God. Why else do you think she's your Queen? Did you think she just lucked out or something?

@Qwerty14 I think it had something to do with her ancestors having better warriors that other contenders. ;) I believe HRH Prince Charles wanted to to amend [i]Fidei Defensor[/i] to "Defender of the Faiths", to defend all religions equally. I'm not sure what happened to that idea but I doubt the CoE liked it.

@suzie1960 antidisestablishmentarianism. Longest word in the English language. You know why it exists yeah?

@Qwerty14 You're out of date. The longest word in any major English dictionary is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis - a lung disease.

There have been several calls over the years for separation of church and state. It will happen one day.

@suzie1960 Lol that's a silly made up term. No one actually uses it. I doubt a dictionary would actually list it, especially given it is a medical term. Maybe in a medical dictionary?