Smart people, even if they are atheists (and suchthe combination is rather rare), still refrain from blasphemy. So, just in case. And it's not just fear of the possible punishment of the Almighty. Any cultural person strives to avoid harming others as much as possible, among which there are sincere believers.
Laws are not written for smart people who are alreadyknow in most cases how to proceed, not to cause moral or material damage to others. It is quite natural for the morally healthy member of society to live honestly, not steal, kill, or blaspheme. This is inherent in the very nature of human communication. However, there are, unfortunately, examples of a different attitude to public morality, when interference by law enforcement is simply necessary.
In pre-revolutionary Russia Orthodoxy wasstate religion, but at the same time created a tolerant attitude towards the Gentiles, who constituted a significant part of the population of the empire. Cases of aggressive xenophobia took place, but the authorities did everything they could to stop them. At the same time, no one, regardless of confession, was allowed to blaspheme. This meant the inadmissibility of disrespectful use of God's name and public expression of disrespect for religious dogmas.
In the period of large-scale social transformations,following the October coup in 1917, the age-old values of the past were actively trampled upon. Children were forced to renounce their parents, his brother went against his brother, and people were forced to blaspheme. This was done in order to create a new religion, which had its holy relics in the mausoleum on Red Square, its "Red Easter" - May Day, and the analog of Christmas - the Anniversary of the Great Revolution on November 7. An insult, albeit unintentional, of new relics attracted punishment much more severe than the punishment for blasphemy in times past. A newspaper used for hygiene purposes could have become a snake (there were also problems with pipifax), if a portrait of one of the leaders was printed on it.
After 1991, in Russia, freedom of conscience becamereality. The people, unaccustomed to grace, massively churched. Moreover, it was fashionable to visit the church, and politicians, actively propagating atheism in Soviet times, began to swing boldly and ineptly in front of the camera lenses. Such shows did not add to them authority, but their bad result was the attitude towards the church as a state body serving the government, which is fundamentally wrong.
Freedom of the person of low culture and underdevelopedis understood as permissiveness. The organizers of unauthorized rallies and other protests, portraying an unyielding determination to resist the "arbitrariness of the authorities", are somewhat disingenuous. They know perfectly well that there will be no severe punishment, except for a fine that they can afford. At least, until some serious article of the Criminal Code has been violated.
Members of the pop group "Pussy Riot" throughoutvisibility, initially were not going to blaspheme. It turned out somehow by itself, by thoughtlessness. However, believers who gathered at the church service, took their scandalous dancing and indistinct cries near the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior as an insult to their religious feelings. And not only they, but the Orthodox around the world reacted to this act, to the surprise of the "liberal public", quite sharply.
For "Pussy Riot" interceded many publicorganizations and individual celebrities. They were asked to be released, and immediately. In the verdict handed down by the court, champions of Western values saw the violation of human rights to protest.
It is obvious that in this casetypical for our time, a one-sided view of the situation. Taking care of the rights of protesters, the champions of freedoms somehow forget that there are other people, believers, and their majority. And they have their own ideas about what is good, and what is bad.
The Blasphemy Act in Russia is designed to protectthe rights of those who profess the values traditional for our multinational and polyconfessional society. First of all, it concerns the Orthodox community, which, despite its large number, shows a rare tolerance in our time for vandalism. Would try to "Pussy Riot" sing-dance in the mosque ...
