So should Blasphemy Laws in Canada even still exist? Are they not used enough or are they used so much by quasi courts that they have suppressed our freedom of speech and expression?
Nice post grain.
I don't think Canada has any business with these laws on the books. The Canadian blasphemy law is based on English laws, which can be traced to a case in England, in
1676. In those early days, blasphemous libel was as much an affront to God, as it was to the State. While our Head of State is still the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, I think most would agree that these days our society is far more secular in nature, and though there is no official separation, in effect we do practice the separation of the two. I think that's a good thing, and we need only think of a situation where another group becomes the majority to understand that an official separation serves our society best.
Certainly, I don't think blasphemy should be viewed as an affront to the State. More to the point, I don't think the State has any business censoring any criticism against it. Clearly that would be against other freedoms we do have, and so this is really one of those cases where our laws are inconsistent, and even hypocritical. The blasphemy laws are outdated.
No idea, no thing, should be above criticism. Considering that some would conflate criticism as irreverence towards religion, clearly we should not have a law like that on the books, even if it is used infrequently.