It’s not just Muslim fanatics who treat blasphemy as a crime. So does Canada.
Life of Brian
In 1980, a theatre in Sault Ste. Marie,
Ont., was charged with blasphemous libel for showing the Monty Python
film, Life of Brian — a spoof on Jesus Christ.
Ontario’s then-Conservative attorney general moved swiftly to stay the
charge, but the blasphemy law remains, writes Thomas Walkom.
Many Canadians assume that only Muslim fanatics view blasphemy as a crime.
That assumption was bolstered after last week’s attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo by two Islamic terrorists.
The pair said they were avenging what they called Charlie Hebdo’s insults against Islam’s prophet, Muhammad.
What isn’t as well
known is that blasphemy is also a crime in Canada. The penalties aren’t
as severe as those meted out in, say, Saudi Arabia.
But in Canada, you can still go to jail for up to two years for expressing what the Criminal Code calls blasphemous libel.
At least one person has suffered that fate.
He was a Toronto
atheist named Eugene (Ernest) Victor Sterry. In 1927, he was jailed and
then deported to England for the offence of insulting Christianity.
Sterry’s particular
crime was to call God an “irate Old Party who thunders imprecations” and
prefers the smell of roast cutlets to that of boiled cabbage.
He also called God a “frenzied megalomaniac.”
Jeremy Patrick, a law
professor now teaching in Australia, tells the tale of the Sterry case
in a scholarly article published five years ago by the Annual Survey of
International and Comparative Law.
It’s a tale that reminds Canadians not to be too smug.
Blasphemy was first written into Canada’s Criminal Code in 1892. At the time, it was seen as a skilful compromise.
Criticizing religion
in a “fair-minded” way that used “decent language” was deemed legal. But
using language intended to insult the religious convictions of the
majority was not.
Put simply, it was okay to challenge religion as long as the critique was made in a manner that did not offend too many voters.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/01/16/canadian-blasphemy-trial-a-warning-against-smugness-walkom.print.html
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