FFRF State Policy Manager Ryan Dudley has had an op-ed published on a leading South Carolina news site asking for the repeal of a little-known state-level anti-blasphemy law.
“It might surprise many South Carolinians to learn that blasphemy is still punishable by jail time in their state — an absurdity that needs to be remedied,” Dudley begins his column in the South Carolina Daily Gazette. “Under South Carolina code section 16-17-520, it’s a misdemeanor to use ‘blasphemous, profane, or obscene language’ at or near a house of worship.”
Dudley continues the piece by laying out how six states still have anti-blasphemy laws on the books — and the dangers that can arise from their very existence:
You might assume laws like this aren’t enforced anymore. But in Pennsylvania, it happened as recently as 2010. George Kalman attempted to register a film production company named I Choose Hell Productions. State officials rejected his application because state statute says corporation names were not allowed to be “blasphemous.”
Thankfully, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania stepped in. The court ruled that the state’s enforcement of its blasphemy statute violated the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and religion. And yet, that unconstitutional law remains on the statute books, just like South Carolina’s law remains today.
Why? Not because anyone is defending it. Not because it’s needed. But because no one has taken the time to repeal it.
Leaving laws like this in place sends the wrong message. It tells South Carolinians that your rights are conditional, that religious speech is protected, but religious dissent can still be punished.
And it leaves open the possibility that someone could misuse the law again, especially since the U.S. Supreme Court has shown a willingness to rewrite constitutional law in favor of religious litigants.
The piece concludes with a call to action, urging South Carolina to fight back against viewpoint censorship: “For South Carolina, the solution is clear. Repeal the state’s blasphemy law and bring its statutes in line with established Supreme Court precedent.”
You can read the full op-ed here.
This column is part of FFRF’s initiative to engage with pertinent national and state issues and spread the messages of freethought and nontheism to a broader audience.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members nationwide, including more than 300 members in South Carolina. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
