International Blasphemy Day Founded
International Blasphemy Day was founded on this day to fight for the right of freedom of expression about religion, including the right to criticize established religions and to deny the existence of any and all supreme beings. It was established by the Center for Inquiry.
Ronald Lindsey, President of the Center for Inquiry at the time said, “religious beliefs should be subject to examination and criticism just as political beliefs are, but we have a taboo on religion.”
Blasphemy laws were once prevalent in the U.S., but remain on the books in only a few states today. In other countries, however), blasphemy is a high crime, and is punishable by death in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. (For one of the last blasphemy cases in the U.S. see the ban on the atheist Anthony Bimba, February 26, 1926).
The Supreme Court ruled on First Amendment protection for critical or offensive statements about religion in Burstyn v. Wilson (May 26, 1952). New York sought to ban on the grounds that it was sacrilegious. (Without question, the film casts religion and Jesus in an unfavorable light.) The Court held that “
While the Court specifically addressed the issue of “sacrilege,” it applied with equal force to allegations of “blasphemy.”
Learn more about the Center for Inquiry here
Read about the history of conflict over religion in American history: Steven Waldman, Sacred Liberty: America’s Long, Bloody, and Ongoing Struggle for Religious Freedom (2019)
Learn About the Burstyn case: Laura Wittern-Keller and Raymond Haberski, The Miracle Case: Film Censorship and the Supreme Court (2009)