According to a Pew Forum study released last week, eight out of 45 European countries have blasphemy laws on their books while 35 of them have laws against the defamation of religion in general or hate speech against members of a faith.
The eight countries with blasphemy laws are Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and Poland. A blasphemy law in England and Wales was scrapped in 2008.
The Netherlands and Ireland are actively considering abolition of their blasphemy laws, while Denmark's fifty year old law has never been used. [National Secular Society] Read more
