

WASHINGTON — Laws punishing acts of blasphemy or apostasy against certain religions are present in almost one-fourth of the world’s countries, said a U.S.-based religious research group.
“Apostasy and blasphemy may seem to many like artifacts of history. But in dozens of countries around the world, laws against apostasy and blasphemy remain even today,” said the Pew Research Center in a May 30 blog post.
The organization found that “that, as of 2012, nearly a quarter of the world’s countries and territories” had anti-blasphemy laws or policies, and 11% of countries had “laws or policies penalizing apostasy.” Consequences for changing faiths or criticizing a religion ranged from fines to the death penalty.
Pew examined data in its 2014 Religious Freedom Report, as well as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2014 report.
The research showed anti-blasphemy laws across the world and on every populated continent, with some of the most severe legislation enacted in Pakistan.
Such laws are also on the books in Michigan and Massachusetts, although they are not enforced in these states.
On example in which anti-blasphemy laws were used came in the North-African country of Mauritania, where anti-slavery activists were imprisoned “after publicly burning religious texts to denounce what the activists viewed as support for slavery in Islamic commentary and jurisprudence.”
While apostasy laws were found to be less common overall — only 21 countries had anti-apostasy legislation on the books — these laws were present in “more than half the countries in the Middle East-North Africa region,” Pew said.
These laws against leaving a certain faith often have strict consequences, with punishments as severe as death in some cases or the loss of citizenship, such as in the Maldives, where “all citizens are required to be Muslim.”
Apostasy laws have drawn attention in recent weeks in connection with Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, a 27-year-old woman who has been sentenced to death in Sudan.
Ibrahim is recognized as Muslim under Sudanese law because her father was Muslim, despite the fact that her father abandoned the family when she was 6 years old, and she was raised as a Christian by her Ethiopian Orthodox mother.
Ibrahim was arrested in August 2013; a Khartoum court convicted her May 15 of apostasy from Islam and adultery, on the grounds that marriage between Muslim women and non-Muslim men is not recognized.
She recently gave birth to the couple’s second child while in prison. Reports indicate that she will be allowed to nurse her baby for several months before her death sentence is carried out. Meanwhile, international attention and pressure is growing on Sudan to release her and her children.
Which countries, and which religions, have blasphemy/apostacy laws?
Also, I read the source article for this, and it does address harassment over religious dress. The only examples are of Muslims being harassed by non-Muslims. Yet we all know that Muslims (and non-Muslims in Muslim countries) are frequent targets of police action when they fail to dress appropriately according to the “decency laws"of certain countries. Omitting this information while focusing on aberrant cases is like obsessing over shark attacks while ignoring deaths caused by drunk drivers.
Tom, I appreciate the comment, but the Torah’s context (Leviticus 24:16) for the word blaspheme seems to imply a legal definition of blasphemy only as “cursing” the name of God. I doubt Jesus violated the true law, so I’m suggesting there was a misunderstanding or distortion of God’s law that occurred somewhere. God’s true law wouldn’t convict Christ.
15. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying: Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.
16. And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him; as well the stranger, as the home-born, when he blasphemeth the Name, shall be put to death.
@Jeff: Christ was crucified on a charge of claiming to be God—the penalty for which, in the Torah, is “death”. It doesn’t mention “unless it’s true”. There’s actually a reason for that, but it’s very weird and mystical.
Certainly a worthy topic of discussion especially since Christ was crucified on a baseless charge of blasphemy.
We must acknowledge that blasphemy can be damaging to others and so may merit punishment; and likewise apostasy should reasonably lead to a loss of certain privileges in a religiously founded community; but the bigger question would be how should blasphemy be defined and punished. Our culture is conditioned now to be able to freely say or do anything that is anti-religious, but this is a flawed concept of freedom.