Stephen Fry is under police scanner for calling God an 'utter maniac'
British comedian and actor Stephen Fry is the latest to face the wrath of believers, oddly two years after he displeased them with a series of comments made on a show aired by Irelands's state broadcaster, RTE.
In an episode of The Meaning of Life, when asked what he would say to God at the gates of heaven, Fry replies, “How dare you create a world in which there is such misery? It’s not our fault? It’s not right. It’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?”
He went on to say that Greek gods "didn't present themselves as being all seeing, all wise, all beneficent", adding "the god who created this universe, if it was created by god, is quite clearly a maniac, an utter maniac, totally selfish."
According to reports, soon after the show was broadcast, a viewer had complained to the police that he found Fry's comments objectionable.
“I told the Garda [police] I wanted to report Fry for uttering blasphemy and RTÉ [the TV channel] for broadcasting it and that I believed these were criminal offences under the Defamation Act 2009.”
The viewer added that while he was not personally offended by the comments, they still amounted to criminal blasphemy and that “I was doing my civic duty by reporting a crime.”
Mind you, this isn't an India or Pakistan or even Iran, where blasphemy cases abound — from the ban on Salman Rushdie for his Satanic Verses to the recent lynching of Mashal Khan — but Ireland, a first-world nation of enlightened Europe.
It became the first nation to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote in 2015, the same year Fry's "blasphemous" comments were first reported.
The charge, belated as it may be, is another grim reminder that the nature of religious bigots is the same, irrespective of whether it is India or Ireland and whether the sentiments hurt are those of Christian, Muslim or Hindu groups.
Their expertise lies in taking offence at the drop of a hat. It is important to note that Fry didn't even target any religion in the said video. He never named a community or the member of a faith.
As he told BBC in an interview after the backlash in 2015: "I don't think I mentioned once any particular religion and I certainly didn't intend, and in fact I know I didn't say anything offensive towards any particular religion."
In 2009, Ireland enacted a law that prohibits people from publishing or uttering "matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion".
If Fry is convicted, he may have to pay a penalty of 25,000 euros.
The host of the The Meaning Of Life, Gay Byrne, has the final word in the matter: “Of course [Fry] hadn’t wished to cause offence. But that’s what the internet is for, controversy, debate and people’s opinions.”
However, not everything is lost. According to the BBC, no publicised cases of blasphemy have been brought before the Irish courts since the law was introduced in 2009 and a source said it was "highly unlikely" that a prosecution against Fry would take place.
Well, bless Stephen Fry. Take the believer with humour!
Also read: Pakistan's blasphemy laws are akin to Islamist mob justice