Personally, as obnoxious as I think (personal view) these folks are, they should not go to jail or be punished by the justice system. That is not to say that they should not receive any "feedback" for their intolerant and bigoted choices.
Social ostracism works well. Shaming them in public is ok, and of course they have a right to respond: to be defiant and maintain their beliefs of proselytizing, or to apologise, or to say nothing and ignore detractors.
Furthermore, are these "legal eagles" completely nuts? How did they get law degrees? Are we living in some medieval period? How the fuck can booklets be seditious?
If someone tried to "convert" me with books, pamphlets or whatever, I would say firmly "No thank you", and if they persist "Please leave me alone", then post a blasphemous article on my blog :)
The basis of civil society is civil behaviour. Attack IDEAS, not HUMANS — unless they do not cease and desist in their behaviour, and their behaviour crosses the line of "annoyance" to "harassment".
People have the right to religious beliefs — even though rationals like myself think otherwise. I can, and will if pushed, debate a religionist — knowing full well that trying to convince a "true believer" is next to impossible. As I said, attack the idea — do not attempt to change the human. That being said, I maintain a spirit of tolerance toward even the people who want to "save me" from my radical atheism and eventual eternal suffering.
Looking at it from their point of view, they think they have the "answers" and part of that belief system is to try to convert as many souls as possible. To the believer (I picture a delectable lass trying to convince me), they get "extra points" for "spreading the word" which helps them get into heaven. Personally, if she has a nice face and great tits, I would prefer that she spread her legs to help me have a "spiritual experience", by cumming all over her god-created ass... but then that's just my belief system at work, and it is my hope that others might be tolerant of my own proclivities :)
Extending the idea, I've never fucked a nun, but I might put the idea/task on my "To do" list one day. However, many priests continue to rape children. At least when I do the nun thing, it will be with her explicit consent. And I'll do much better work on her than the jewish zombie she's apparently "married" to. :-)
From The Straits Times
May 28, 2009
Couple guilty of sedition
By Elena Chong
A CHRISTIAN couple have been found guilty in Singapore's first sedition trial for distributing seditious and undesirable publications as well as possession.
SingTel technical officer Ong Kian Cheong, 50, and his wife, UBS associate director Dorothy Chan Hien Leng, 46, were convicted on Thursday of four charges after an 11-day trial.
They were convicted of distributing seditious or an undesirable publication, The Little Bride, to two Muslims in October and March 2007; and sending out another seditious booklet, Who is Allah?, to another Muslim in December that year.
These two publications had the tendency to to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between Christians and Muslims.
The Little Bride was deemed objectionable as it dealt with matters of religion in such a manner likely to cause feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between the two religious groups.
On the day of the Protestant couple's arrest on Jan 30 last year, police seized an assortment of items from their Maplewoods condominium, including 11 titles consisting of 439 copies of comic tracts which were seditious.
Their defence that they had no knowledge of the contents of the tracts they sent out was rejected by the court.
Judge Roy Neighbour also disbelieved Chan's defence that her husband had no knoweledge about her tract orders and purchases.
'I do not believe that the first accused (Ong) was merely the 'postman' in the distribution of the tracts having no knowledge of what was being distributed to members of the public,'' he added.
The case was adjourned to June 4 for Deputy Public Prosecutor Anandan Bala to address the court on sentence. Mitigation will be presented by their lawyer Selva K. Naidu then.
The couple can be fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to three years on each of the two Sedition Act charges.
For distributing an objectionable publication, they can be fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to 12 months.
The possession charge is punishable with a fine of up to $2,000 and/or up to 18 months in jail.
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View the "seditious booklets"
The Little Bride
Who Is Allah?
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The discussion at the JREF forum
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