5. Blasphemy and minorities

‘Blasphemy and minorities’ describes how ideas about blasphemy have changed with the increasingly visible presence of religious and ethnic minorities. Modern blasphemy laws tended to limit blasphemy to a crime that could only be committed by those educated as Christians against Christianity—with the result that Jews could not blaspheme, nor could Judaism be blasphemed against. Nevertheless, ‘Jews’ have been very present as images in blasphemy controversies. Today it is also very common for blasphemy to be represented as a Muslim problem. The first modern ‘blasphemous’ cartoon of Muhammad and Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses (1988), as well as the Danish Cartoon Affair of 2005/2006, are fascinating examples of blasphemy and creativity.