IS BLASPHEMY HATE SPEECH?

Abstract

Religious freedoms create complex problems for modern secular societies given
the growing tension between the democratic need to protect differences, the right
to freedom of speech, and the vital need for modern democracies to guarantee
peaceful coexistence between the majority and minority communities. This is
particularly true in regard to the freedom of worship in conditions of cultural and
religious pluralism protected from extremist outbursts based on cultural and
religious identity.
This text will focus on the issue of blasphemy or more specifically, whether
expressions of blasphemy should enjoy protection as part of the fundamental right
to freedom of expression, or should such expressions be treated as hate speech,
which would mean possibility for their legitimate legal constraint.