Balsphemy and Apostasy in the West

<h1>Balsphemy and Apostasy in the West - III</h1>Author: <a title="hasan yahya" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/hasan-yahya/119533.htm">hasan yahya</a> Hasan A. Yahya, Ph.D In conclusion, blasphemy existed a long time ago, but does blasphemy means the same meaning among all people especially with the fact that people differ in their socio-economic and political backgrounds and in all changing times? The answer is, simply, negative. But what can be sure is that no human being has the right to enforce belief over other, or any one else, or to punish someone for leaving that belief or ridiculing it by death without a fair hearing and judgment. Blasphemy is highly encouraged in the West and related to what the West have accomplished in recent modern times in the field of freedom and free expression. This statement is supported by a speech made to support Rushdie against Khomeini by Wieseltier, an editor in the New Republic who quoted to say: “It was blasphemy that made us free.” This phenomenon is not a new one, in fact, more than one hundred years ago, and in 1889 to be exact, a bill was introduced into the House of Commons providing that “ after the passing of this act no criminal proceedings shall be instituted in any court against any person for schism, heresy, blasphemous libel, blasphemy at common law, or atheism,” One speaker was commenting against the bill by saying: “ While we punish those who killed the body, the Bill would allow men to murder souls with impunity; under the law of Moses blasphemers were taken out of the camp and stoned to death.” (Ibid: 96) Today, we can repeat exactly the same words in the case of Salman Rushdie. Such words may be hard to work in todays’ world, where the material body-no doubt-is more sacred than the soul. This Bill was rejected in the House of Commons by 143 to 48. Mr. Bradlaugh who introduced the Bill commented after its failure of support, that he felt it an exceedingly depressing and distressing circumstancethat the Bill should have had so little support. The Bill, however, was approved less than twenty years later by the House of Commons. In this series of articles, blasphemy and apostasy were described, and their development in history was reported. It began with ayat of Qur’an concerning punishment of blasphemous and apostate, followed by history of the concepts in the west. Especially in England. A conclusion was made on the subject. ( 404 words) <a href="http://www.hasanyahya.com/"><a href="http://www.hasanyahya.com" target="_blank">www.hasanyahya.com</a></a>About the Author: Hasan A. Yahya is an American Arab scholar, and a professor of cultures and sociology. He published 19 Arabic and 8 English books and 200 plus articles on sociology, psychology, politics, poetry, IQ Test Measurement and short stories in both Arabic and English. His articles may be found on articlesbase.com, Face book and other internet sites. His recent book published on Amazon titled: Therapy Cases: Mental and physical, 2008, and Lawlaki: Poetry Diwan, 2000 Bayt Min al-Shi'r al-Arabi. (all in Arabic on amazon- 2009). His recent activities reflects his talents and knowledge on youtube’s Dryahyatv.com Dr. Yahya resides in Michigan, USA. Dr. Yahya has four children and eight grandchildren.Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/">ArticlesBase.com</a> - <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/philosophy-articles/balsphemy-and-apostasy-in-the-west-iii-1388950.html" title="Balsphemy and Apostasy in the West - III">Balsphemy and Apostasy in the West - III</a>

Hasan A. Yahya, Ph.D

In conclusion, blasphemy existed a long time ago, but does blasphemy means the same meaning among all people especially with the fact that people differ in their socio-economic and political backgrounds and in all changing times? The answer is, simply, negative. But what can be sure is that no human being has the right to enforce belief over other, or any one else, or to punish someone for leaving that belief or ridiculing it by death without a fair hearing and judgment. Blasphemy is highly encouraged in the West and related to what the West have accomplished in recent modern times in the field of freedom and free expression. This statement is supported by a speech made to support Rushdie against Khomeini by Wieseltier, an editor in the New Republic who quoted to say: “It was blasphemy that made us free.” This phenomenon is not a new one, in fact, more than one hundred years ago, and in 1889 to be exact, a bill was introduced into the House of Commons providing that “ after the passing of this act no criminal proceedings shall be instituted in any court against any person for schism, heresy, blasphemous libel, blasphemy at common law, or atheism,” One speaker was commenting against the bill by saying: “ While we punish those who killed the body, the Bill would allow men to murder souls with impunity; under the law of Moses blasphemers were taken out of the camp and stoned to death.” (Ibid: 96)

Today, we can repeat exactly the same words in the case of Salman Rushdie. Such words may be hard to work in todays’ world, where the material body-no doubt-is more sacred than the soul. This Bill was rejected in the House of Commons by 143 to 48. Mr. Bradlaugh who introduced the Bill commented after its failure of support, that he felt it an exceedingly depressing and distressing circumstancethat the Bill should have had so little support. The Bill, however, was approved less than twenty years later by the House of Commons.

In this series of articles, blasphemy and apostasy were described, and their development in history was reported. It began with ayat of Qur’an concerning punishment of blasphemous and apostate, followed by history of the concepts in the west. Especially in England. A conclusion was made on the subject. ( 404 words) www.hasanyahya.com

Hasan A. Yahya is an American Arab scholar, and a professor of cultures and sociology. He published 19 Arabic and 8 English books and 200 plus articles on sociology, psychology, politics, poetry, IQ Test Measurement and short stories in both Arabic and English. His articles may be found on articlesbase.com, Face book and other internet sites. His recent book published on Amazon titled: Therapy Cases: Mental and physical, 2008, and Lawlaki: Poetry Diwan, 2000 Bayt Min al-Shi'r al-Arabi. (all in Arabic on amazon- 2009). His recent activities reflects his talents and knowledge on youtube’s Dryahyatv.com Dr. Yahya resides in Michigan, USA. Dr. Yahya has four children and eight grandchildren.

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Article Tags: religion, islam, christianity, judaism, blasphemy, apostasy, salman rushdie, hasan yahya, arabs, iran, qur’an, sunnah, satanic verses, dryahyatv, askdryahya, heretics, politics, ideology, england, west, europe

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