BREAKING: Self-Styled Godman Found Guilty of Sacrilege

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http://www.sikh24.com/2013/05/breaking-self-styled-godman-found-guilty-of-sacrilege/#.UabVikf_7Aw

BREAKING: Self-Styled Godman Found Guilty of Sacrilege

Bhaniarewala had burned saroop of Guru Granth Sahib Ji

By: Sikh24 Editors

AMBALA, Haryana, India (May 10, 2013)–Ambala Court has concluded the case of Baba Piara Bhaniarewala. Bhaniarewala was present during the hearing and was arrested after the sentence was announced. He could face imprisonment for 3 to 5 years. He was found guilty of hurting sentiments of the Sikh community in 2001 when he caused sacrilege to a saroop of Guru Granth Sahib ji by putting it on fire. He had also published his own book and sat it parallel to the Guru Granth Sahib asking his followers to pay obeisance to it.

Along with Bhaniarewala, seven others were arrested while 5 were acquitted. Although Sikhs welcomed the court sentence, imprisonment of only 3 years was declared not enough for such a heinous crime.

Police were deployed in large numbers and members of various Sikh organisations were present near the court.

Bhaniarewala’s supporters held a counter protest and plan to appeal the court’s verdict. The final ruling will be announced by the court on May 13.

The idea of Sacrilege as a crime is something which a lot of modern people do not like, but many acts of sacrilege are covered by other criminal law. For example in some Nordic areas some people have burnt down churchs in antichristian hate crimes which are examples of sacrilege, however the legal system treated it as arson.

If people in the US were sent to prison for sacrilege, I would by now most likely be buried under whatever prison I was sent to.

This happened in Norway, where the Church (The Church of Norway) is a State Institution. When the Churches in Norway were burned, they were rebuilt with Taxpayer money, and because the churches in question burnt were between 200 and 900 years old, they were rebuilt to modern building code specifications, with integral electricity, HVAC, plumbing and all modern conveniences.

Burning the churches, may have seemed like a good idea to the people who burned them at the time, but ultimately it was self defeating because what they brought on were essentially upgraded structures that they, and everybody else in Norway paid for.

The last person to be jailed in the United States for blasphemy was Abner Kneeland in 1838 (a Massachusetts case: Commonwealth v. Kneeland).[1] The Kneeland case preceded the ratification (in 1868) of the 14th Amendment, which incorporated the Bill of Rights and made it apply to the states and not just to the federal government. From 1925, the Supreme Court applied the Bill of Rights to all states.[2]

The last U.S. conviction for blasphemy - at least that of any significance - was of atheist activist Charles Lee Smith. In 1928 he rented a storefront in Little Rock, Arkansas, and gave out free atheist literature there. The sign in the window read: "Evolution Is True. The Bible's a Lie. God's a Ghost." For this he was charged with violating the city ordinance against blasphemy. Because he was an atheist and therefore couldn't swear the court's religious oath to tell the truth, he wasn't permitted to testify in his own defense. The judge then dismissed the original charge, replacing it with one of distributing obscene, slanderous, or scurrilous literature. Smith was convicted, fined $25, and served most of a twenty-six-day jail sentence. His high-profile fast while behind bars drew national media attention. Upon his release, he immediately resumed his atheist activities, was again charged with blasphemy, and this time the charge held. In his trial he was again denied the right to testify and was sentenced to ninety days in jail and a fine of $100. Released on $1,000 bail, Smith appealed the verdict. The case then dragged on for several years until it was finally dismissed.[3]

References

[1] "Kneeland, Abner" in Gordon Stein, editor, The Encyclopedia of Unbelief, pp. 379-380. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1985.

[2] "Blasphemy" in Tom Flynn, editor, The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief, p. 147. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007.

[3] "Smith, Charles Lee" in Gordon Stein, editor, The Encyclopedia of Unbelief, pp. 633-634. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1985.

If sacrilege was punishable by the law here in the United States, being that there are so many faiths - or no faith at all - there would be no way to avoid going to prison. You couldn't help but piss off someone!

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer