Can I Say That?: How an International Blasphemy Law Pits the Freedom of Religion Against the Freedom of Speech

Authors

Caleb Holzaepfel

Abstract

This Comment aims to illustrate the dangers inherent in blasphemy laws, by examining both their past and present state. If blasphemy laws become customary international law, as recent resolutions passed in the United Nations indicate, an important human right is unnecessarily threatened. Though blasphemy laws protect the freedom of some individuals to practice religion as they see fit without insult or unjust attack, blasphemy laws also inherently limit other individuals' freedom of speech. The conversation over enacting and enforcing blasphemy laws is multi-layered and complex, but the foremost concern about certain new blasphemy laws is that they give freedom of religion undue precedence over freedom of speech, to the detriment of society. This Comment will illustrate the faulty thought processes behind blasphemy laws and the danger of allowing domestic blasphemy laws to evolve into international customary law.

Recommended Citation

Caleb Holzaepfel, Can I Say That?: How an International Blasphemy Law Pits the Freedom of Religion Against the Freedom of Speech, 28 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 597 (2014).
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/eilr/vol28/iss1/14