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Q&A Is it illegal if I use religious material in writing my novel?

Some countries have blasphemy laws. Those blasphemy laws might be "protecting" all recognised religions in the country, or only the state religion. In some countries, like Iran, those blasphemy law...

posted 4y ago by Galastel‭

Answer
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Galastel‭ · 2020-01-02T01:55:06Z (over 4 years ago)
Some countries have blasphemy laws. Those blasphemy laws might be "protecting" all recognised religions in the country, or only the state religion. In some countries, like Iran, those blasphemy laws are routinely used to persecute minority religions (because they disagree with the state-sanctioned interpretation of Islam). In Iran, you might be hung for "insulting a prophet" ([source][1]).

This is not the case in democracies. Free speech protects you there. You might remember [this image and article][2] in The Onion, following the Charlie Hebdo shooting. So long as you don't actively incite to violence against one group or another, you're fine.

What the situation is in your country in this regard I do not know. You can search for blasphemy laws - now that you know the name of what you're looking for, shouldn't be hard to find it.

Now, the fact that what you're writing is legal does not mean everyone is going to like it. For example, the famous musical Jesus Christ Superstar was criticised by Christian and Jewish groups, banned in South Africa for being "irreligious", and in Hungary for being "religious propaganda" ([source][3]). But then, you can't please everyone. Don't worry about it.



  [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law_in_Iran
  [2]: https://www.theonion.com/no-one-murdered-because-of-this-image-1819573893
  [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ_Superstar#Controversy