Well, I didn't see that coming

[giza]

Bible-belt town bans blasphemy

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The name of the Lord may no longer be taken in vain in the Dutch village of Staphorst.

Staphorst, in the so-called Dutch "bible belt" of eastern towns where religion holds sway, approved a ban on swearing by 13-4 council votes.

But the caveat that swearing is not banned when it is an expression of the constitutional freedom of speech may make it difficult to punish offenders.

"A ban on swearing can be seen as a signal," the council's proposal said, adding a change in moral values was needed to address the underlying problem.

Past swearing bans in bible-belt villages were declared in violation of the right to free expression in 1986. One other town has such a ban -- Reimerswaal, in the southwestern province of Zeeland.

The Dutch association against swearing, which runs national billboard campaigns to admonish the bad-mouthed Dutch, says the Bible outlaws swearing.

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain," it quotes Exodus 20:7.

And there I was, thinking that the USA had a monopoly on the Jesus Freaks. Whoops, did I just take the Lord's name in vain again? Silly me.

Comments

[giza.livejournal.com]

Yes lord.

Whoops! I did it yet again!

[silverscalenaga.livejournal.com]

*pulls out his dick and slaps the lawmakers* shut your goddamned mouth before i shove this in your sandy mangina. christ whats wrong with you fucks

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

God Dammit

Oop..

Ghod Verdamma

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

The UK also has a law against blasphemy, although it's not used much anymore.

And don't forget Italy, where an author is currently on trial for blashpheming Islam in one of her books.

[cyriljackal.livejournal.com]

What if its not MY god? Can I take someone elses god's name in vain? My religion encourages me taking the diety's name in vain, during sex, and whenever I want.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Saying "Bhuddadammit" just doesn't have the same ring to it... :-(

[cyriljackal.livejournal.com]

My god ain't JHVH. He's the enemy!

[furahi.livejournal.com]

Actually that could catch up ;) Buhdammit! XD

[cheetor.livejournal.com]

Except that Buhddisim isnt a religion.....

[giza.livejournal.com]

I'll start a religion with that name. And then I'll get tax-exempt status and make a million dollars (http://www.bible.ca/scientology-1million-start-a-religion.htm), yeah!

[pegla.livejournal.com]

Greetings,

furahi told me about this thread. It has been in the news but people didn't give it much thought. Staphorst is one of the cities around in the Netherlands being a so called 'Black Sock' city. Named after the black socks they have to wear to their fundi-schools. There are a handful of these cities in the Netherlands where they flock together, so they aren't bothered with us and we aren't bothered with them.

A while back their political party tried to push the ID-laws through the government (Intelligent Design), but even during the debate it seemed a lost cause, especially when the biggest Christian fraction (the CDA) told them 'this was just absurd'. They filed a motion and it was rejected with 147 against 3 votes.

Fortunately even the CDA sees separation between church and state as one of the basic principles of the Dutch state.

Seeyas :)

[giza.livejournal.com]

> A while back their political party tried to push the ID-laws through the government (Intelligent Design),

Oh lordy, we have that going on in the State of Kansas right now. What's really sad is that the state school board is RUN by the Jesus freaks, so the scientists who were going to testify ended up boycotting the hearings because of their one-sidedness.

http://www.toptechnews.com/news/National-Science-Groups-Boycott-Kansas-Evolution-Hearings/story.xhtml?story_id=013001C5ZV5W

[liontaris.livejournal.com]

You don't have a Monopoly on Jesus Freaks. Alberta has quite a few, so do the Maritimes (being older towns). It's just that by population, you're statistically more likely to have a higher number of them than a few little provinces.