Russian atheist faces year in jail for denying existence of God during webchat

[muriel_volestrangler]

A man in southern Russia faces a potential jail sentence after he was charged with insulting the feelings of religious believers over an internet exchange in which he wrote that “there is no God”.

Viktor Krasnov, 38, who appeared in court Wednesday, is being prosecuted under a controversial 2013 law that was introduced after punk art group Pussy Riots was jailed for a performance in Moscow’s main cathedral, his lawyer Andrei Sabinin told AFP.
...
“If I say that the collection of Jewish fairytales entitled the Bible is complete bullshit, that is that. At least for me,” Krasnov wrote, adding later “there is no God!”

One of the young people involved in the dispute with Krasnov then lodged a complaint against him accusing him of “offending the sentiments of Orthodox believers”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/03/russian-atheist-faces-year-in-jail-for-denying-existence-of-god-during-webchat

[Buzz cook]

1. From communisum to theocracy in record time.

The church supplied a handy replacement for thought crimes, so that Vlad Putin (friend to Bush and Trump) could jail opponents.

[noretreatnosurrender]

2. Terrible

This makes me so mad.

[struggle4progress]

3. I'm not quite sure what's going on here but the "Jewish fairytales" language suggests

he might be an anti-semite, and there are some reports that he is actually being prosecuted for hate speech

[Albertoo]

4. Doubting the messenger to defend the 'sacred'?

Unless you know the details of this case, why would you even imagine there is antisemitism involved? Was the Bible written by Jews? Yes. Is it a collection of fairy tales? Many people would agree. Is calling the Bible "Jewish fairy tales" offensive or racist? Presumption of innocence applies.

Look what your way of guessing intents could lead to if generalized: doubting the Vedas could be attributed to anti-Indian racism. Calling the Quran "Arab fairy tales" would be a badge of islamophobia.

"Kim Jong Il's official biography says he was "heaven sent," born in a log cabin in Mount Paektu while his father was fighting the Japanese."
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2011/1222/Kim-Jong-il-Legendary-golfer-and-mythical-powers-even-in-death
Calling that "Korean fairy tales" would probably lead to charges of Koreanophobia if the term was in vogue?

[struggle4progress]

5. There are potentially important issues to investigate in thus story but your approach seems

to sidestep many of them

For example, Viktor Krasnov spent time in a psychiatric ward after his arrest: given the history of misuse of psychiatric confinement in Russia, one might ask whether his psychiatric evaluation was based on any potential psychiatric symptoms, or whether he was instead confined as a method of social control. There's not enough in any of the online English coverage to shed much light on this question

As I noted upthread, there are some reports that he is actually being prosecuted for hate speech. There is some nontrivial history of anti-semitism in Russia; and Krasnov's posts under the pseudonym Kolosov seem to exhibit it: he complains, for example, about celebrating "the birth and baptism of a Jew" and asks whether if it is not "the limit of stupidity to worship a dead Jew" -- and in such comments, he uses vocabulary recognized as anti-semitic

It's not clear to me from the coverage whether there is a charge under only one section of the Russian code or under several. What is mostly discussed in the stories is the relation to the code section enacted after Pussy Riot disrupted a religious service to denounce Putin, and the disproportionately long sentences handed down to Pussy Riot for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" once again suggest the flexible use of such prosecutions to enforce the powers of the ruling elite. On the other hand, given the history of religious persecution in Russia, the criminalization of hate speech is not necessarily unreasonable; and some media coverage of the story mentions other code sections under which Krasnov might be prosecuted

So there are several issues that might be relevant to any effort to understand this story better

[Albertoo]

6. You cast suspicion where you have no evidence

A fine example is your sentence "There is some nontrivial history of anti-semitism in Russia".
There is a non trivial history of antisemitism in the whole of Europe and the Arab world. So?
You do not shed light on the case, you cast a shadow of doubt based on a general statement.
And to call Jesus a Jew is a rhetorical way of grounding him in historicity (if he ever existed) as a member of a certain ethnicity rather than as a son of a god.

Anyway, all this is immaterial. The case stated in the OP is that the guy is prosecuted for hurting the feelings of a believer in the Russian Orthodox Church. At the end of the day, the question is: can people write freely about "the limit of stupidity to worship a dead Jew" unhindered or can Orthodox bigots shut him down in the name of their hurt feelings?

As I said in my earlier post, you are shooting the messenger on grounds of potential character flaws (antisemitism) while straying from the key point, the freedom to criticize religion (including mockery, which is a short form of criticism believers particularly resent, Charlie Hebdo RIP)

[Leontius]

8. Do you feel the same way about dissent on college campus being "shut down in the name of

their hurt feelings"? Are you really pro free expression or just anti religion?

[Albertoo]

9. Both pro free expression and anti religion

And I sure don't believe in giving religion a safe space.

[Leontius]

10. So you condemn these so called progressive groups trying to shut down free expression

at colleges across the US?

[Albertoo]

11. I do not believe in curbing free speech

unless it involves an appeal to violence or sedition

[Lordquinton]

12. Viktor Krasnov spent time in a psychiatric ward after his arrest

Oh boy, here we go...

[Major Nikon]

7. All Abrahamic religions are derived from "Jewish fairytales"

This includes Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

[Brettongarcia]

13. The hate speech law itself is new

And controversial.

Why is it now illegal to say certain things about specially protected groups?

Why did freedom of speech end? And why does the new censorship law favor especially religious groups?

Who did that?

What agencies engineered the overthrow of freedom of speech, in a way that favors religion?

What agencies are known for that sort of thing - censorship - in the past?

[struggle4progress]

14. "Krasnov told Svoboda he posted his Internet comments after Dmitry Burnyashev and Alexander Kravtsov

suggested that women were inferior to men at home"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/russia-viktor-krasnov-trial-god_us_56d84c21e4b0000de403777f

[struggle4progress]

15. ... court bailiffs brought the victims to court due to former soldier Alexander Kravtsov .. and ...

Dmitry Barnyashev’s failure to appear at previous court hearings,” Sabinin said, Gazeta.ru reported ...

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/news/article/russian-orthodox-christians-demand-punishment-for-online-insults/561261.html