A Hindu politician and a Jewish Rabbi have asked the United Nations (UN) to direct Malta to treat all religions and denominations equally in front of the law.
Malta is one of the few European states that penalises the ‘public vilification’ of the Roman Catholic religion with a maximum term of sixth months’ imprisonment – and three months for other religions.
Rajan Zed, a Hindu and Indo-American statesman from Nevada, and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California, in a statement said that except for the Roman Catholic religion, other religions and denominations including Hinduism and Judaism were “just one of the cults” in the Maltese legal system.
Zed led the first ever Hindu prayer to open the US Senate in 2007.
Zed and Rabbi Freirich argued that it was “perturbing to note that a country of Europe, which prided itself for its human rights initiatives, apparently treated crimes against religious sentiments of ‘other’ religions as less serious than against the majority religion” and that the Criminal Code described religions other than majority religion as cults.
Zed and Freirich also urged the United Nations to ask Malta to replace the subject of “religion” with “comparative religion” in its public primary and secondary schools, teaching basics of all major world religions, including the viewpoint of non-believers.
According to Constitution of Malta, religious teaching of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Faith must be provided in all State schools, as part of compulsory education.
Zed and Freirich pointed out that opening up of Maltese children to major world religions and non-believers’ viewpoints would make them “well-nurtured, well-balanced, and enlightened citizens of tomorrow.”
They said it also made “good business sense” to know the beliefs of others in a global community. “Students should have knowledge of the entire society to become full participants in the world community.”
Article 163 of the Criminal Code lays down a maximum imprisonment of six months for public vilification (with gestures, writing, speech, and pictures) of the Roman Catholic religion – but only three months against “any cult tolerated by law”.
Note that this law was enacted in 1933. But the use of the word “cults” reveals the contempt shown to other religions, apart from making blasphemy against Jews, Muslims, Protestants, adherents of the Bahá’í faith or Quakers less serious than against Catholics.
Article 338 (bb) states that it will be an offence to, “even though in a state of intoxication” publicly utter “any obscene or indecent words, or makes obscene acts or gestures, or in any other manner not otherwise provided for in this Code, offend against public morality, propriety or decency”.
In respect of this contravention, where the act consists in uttering blasphemous words or expressions, the maximum punishment may be imprisonment for a term of three months.
Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below. Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.
Search:
MALTATODAY
BUSINESSTODAY
Download MaltaToday Sunday issue front page in pdf file format
All the interviews from Reporter on MaltaToday's YouTube channel.
