blasphemy
Salman Rushdie’s ‘Knife’ is unflinching about his brutal stabbing and uncanny in its vital spirit
By Hillel Italie — April 16, 2024
NEW YORK (AP) —At just over 200 pages, “Knife” is a brief work in the canon of Rushdie, among the most exuberant and expansive of contemporary novelists.
Christians in Pakistan risk greater persecution from blasphemy laws, while living in poverty
By Myriam Renaud — July 5, 2023
(The Conversation) — Consigned to jobs in sanitation and other hazardous fields, Christians, the largest religious minority group in Pakistan, face a difficult time in the country.
Pakistan court jails Chinese national charged with blasphemy
By Riaz Khan — April 19, 2023
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The man, who was working on a hydropower project in Pakistan. He was accused by Pakistani laborers of blasphemy after criticizing two drivers working on the project of taking too much time to pray during work hours.
Vatican on rapper’s mock baptism: ‘They don’t make provocateurs like they used to’
By Claire Giangravé — February 3, 2022
(RNS) — The Vatican’s response to an Italian rapper’s mock baptism on stage suggests the church hierarchy is coming to terms with artists’ flouting of Catholic imagery.
‘Jesus Christ Superstar’: The controversial musical phenomenon turns 50
By Kathryn Post — October 1, 2021
(RNS) — Once banned from BBC Radio for being sacrilegious, the hit musical has now become a brand in and of itself.
Pakistan police arrest 50 suspected of Hindu temple attack
By Associated Press — August 9, 2021
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) —Police arrested 50 people suspected of ransacking a Hindu temple in a remote town in eastern Pakistan.
Nigeria’s blasphemy laws are the religious freedom crisis no one is talking about
By Frederick A. Davie and Tony Perkins — February 5, 2021
(RNS) — The United States needs to incentivize the Nigerian government to uphold religious freedoms enshrined in the West African country's constitution.
Asia Bibi happy to be in Canada but ‘very tired’ after blasphemy ordeal, says friend
By John Longhurst — May 9, 2019
(RNS) — Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who was acquitted of blasphemy charges, was reunited this week with her family in Canada. The family's exact location remains secret due to concerns for her safety.
Asia Bibi free to leave Pakistan after court dismisses challenge to her acquittal
By Bob Smietana — January 29, 2019
LAHORE, Pakistan (RNS) — Bibi, a Christian whose death sentence for blasphemy was overturned last year, will likely leave Pakistan after a court rejected an appeal of her acquittal.
Governor convicted of blasphemy freed from Indonesian prison
By Niniek Karmini — January 24, 2019
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A polarizing Christian politician whose campaign comments ignited the largest protests in years in Muslim-majority Indonesia was freed Thursday after serving nearly two years in prison for blasphemy.
Pakistani Christians face an uneasy Christmas in the wake of Asia Bibi’s release
By Bob Smietana — December 20, 2018
LAHORE, Pakistan (RNS) — The fallout from the release of Bibi — whose death sentence for blasphemy was rescinded this year — has left Pakistan's Christians wary of a backlash this Christmas.
Blasphemy law is repealed in Ireland but remains a problem for Christian and Muslims
By Steve Pinkerton — November 8, 2018
(The Conversation) — In an increasingly pluralist, multicultural West, blasphemy laws find fresh purpose in policing intolerance between religious communities.
Asia Bibi acquitted of blasphemy in Pakistan, freed from death row
By Bob Smietana — October 31, 2018
LAHORE, Pakistan (RNS) — Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian mother who faced the death penalty for allegedly blaspheming against the Prophet Muhammad, was acquitted after spending years on death row.
Egyptian Parliament considers outlawing atheism
By Kimberly Winston — January 4, 2018
(RNS) — It is already illegal to 'defame' religion, but a new law would make it a crime to have no belief in God.
Top Indonesia court overturns discriminatory religious law
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 8, 2017
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia has for decades recognized only Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism as religions, but millions practice animism and other local faiths.
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