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Old 03-13-2008, 05:16 PM
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fable fable is offline
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Finally! The Dutch kill their blasphemy laws! (spam on subject only)

Yes, the Dutch have had a blasphemy law, and they got it as recently as 1932. But some of them want to get rid of it. The Liberal Party, currently in power, is trying to do so. You can read about it here.

But here's a taste:

A majority in the Dutch parliament, led by the ruling Labour Party, wants to scrap a law which fines or even imprisons people who commit blasphemy. But although the law isn't used anymore, even debating whether or not to scrap it is sensitive. The Christian parties in Dutch politics have always argued to keep it on the books....

And although there's a majority for scrapping the law, government is not asked to get rid of it immediately....Indeed, the law against blasphemy has been called a dead letter. The last conviction under the law took place more than forty years ago, when a student newspaper got the maximum fine of 100 guilders (40 euros) for making fun of the New Testament. And in the infamous "donkey" case in 1968, confrontational Dutch author Gerard van het Reve fantasized about sexual relations with God who had taken the form of a donkey. The author was prosecuted for blasphemy, but the court acquitted him.


Over to you.
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