Odger's English Common Law

BLASPHEMY. 213
Blasphemy.
It is a misdemeanour to speak, or to write and publish, any
profane words vilifying or ridiculing God, Jesus Christ, the
Holy Ghost, the Old or New Testament, or Christianity in
' general, with intent to. shock and insult believers, or to per-
vert or mislead the ignorant and unwary. This intent is an
essential element in the crime, and is generally inferred from
the intemperate and scurrilous language of the accused. 1
The disputes of learned men, and publications discussing
with decency questions as to Christianity and the Scriptures,
are not punishable as blasphemy. If the decencies of controversy
are observed, even the fundamentals of religion may
be attacked. A man is free to teach what he likes as to
religious matters, even if it is unbelief, but in considering
whether he has exceeded the permitted limits, the place
where he speaks, and the people to whom he speaks, have
to be taken into account. If he is arguing for an honest
belief in a doctrine or a non-doctrine to which he is attached,
he is not guilty of publishing blasphemous words. 2 But if,
not for the sake of argument, he makes a scurrilous attack
on doctrines, which the majority of persons hold to be true,
in a public place where passers-by may have their ears
offended and where young people may come, he renders him-
self liable to the law of blasphemy. 3
The offence is not triable at Quarter Sessions.
Heresy and blasphemy, then, are entirely distinct and different things,
both in their essence and in their legal aspect. Originally, both were
ecclesiastical offences not cognizable in the secular Courts. Then statutes
were passed under which both became crimes punishable in the ordinary
law Courts. Now heresy is once more a purely ecclesiastical offence,
punishable only in the clergy ; while blasphemy is the technical name for
a particular offence against the State. It is a crime against the peace and
good order of society, an outrage on men's religious feelings, tending to a
breach of the peace.
1 Per Lord Coleridge, L. C. J., in R. v. Ramsay and Foote (1883), 48 L. T. at
p. 739 ; 15 Cox, 231. See R. v. Bradlaugh (1883), 15 Cox, 217 ; Odgers' Libel
and Slander (5th ed.), Chap. XVII., Blasphemous Words.
2 M. v. Ramsay and Foote (1883), 15 Cox, 231 ; Bowman v. Secular Society, Ltd.,
[1917] A. C. 406.
3 S. v. Boulter (1908), 72 J. P. 188 ; and see the Burial Laws Amendment Act,
1880 (43 & 44 Vict. c. 41), s. 7.