Lookit that. Other countries' governments go fucking insane too.

[tzikeh]

Sometimes, all I can do is shrug, and say, "Well, at least it isn't the U.S. government going batshit looneytunes and destroying civil rights this time."

First, the Irish outlawed blasphemy. I'll be curious to see how the law is applied to The Independent's response to the law.

Now, the UK's Home Office, which is clearly the "someone" in "WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?", has issued the Vetting and Barring Scheme. This means that, among others, J.K. Rowling has to register in a government database as a possible child molester.

Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
Britons ever-more-increasingly never will be slaves.

ETA:

Comments

[bentleywg.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[babylon-whore.livejournal.com]

My country is the most awesomest land of shenanigans! FOR DAMN SURE.

[ratcreature]

Actually it is not unusual in Europe for blasphemy to be illegal. Sad as that is. It is in Germany, and not as some remnant of a law, but it gets applied too regularly into the present day. Though to lead to a sentence the blasphemy (insult to religious believes in general too) it needs to "disturb the public peace". You can be sentenced to up to three years in prison, though fines and sentences served on parole are more common. It regularly comes under criticism because both blasphemy and disturbing the public peace are so vague that they can be applied to anything.

So semi-regularly artworks, books, plays, movies and such are challenged and sometimes successfully. For example I remember that a play (by by the atheist activist Michael Schmidt-Salomon) was forbidden in 1994 for showing crucified pigs iirc. He appealed through several courts and lost again and again, until the constitutional court refused to hear the case. In 2005 someone stamped or printed "Koran" on toilet paper in 2005. The guy got sentenced in 2006 to a year on parole and several hundred hours of community service.

[tingler.livejournal.com]

Picture made me LOL. Have to lalala the rest so brain doesn't leak (or explode).

[klia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the ETA -- HEE!!

The rest? *headdesk x infinity*

[jackiekjono.livejournal.com]

That guy in the middle looks exactly like my friend Peter Larsen.