Irish citizens celebrated the overturning of a “medieval” law against blasphemy on Saturday after citizens voted overwhelmingly to remove it from their constitution.
Almost 65% of the country sided with the referendum — a total of more than 951,000 people — a “quiet revolution,” and “reflection of seismic social and political changes in Ireland,” according to The Guardian.
“It means that we’ve got rid of a medieval crime from our constitution that should never have been there,” Atheist Ireland chairperson, Michael Nugent, told the news site.
Voters also chose to reinstate 77-year-old poet and human rights campaigner, Michael D. Higgins, to the presidency; allowing him seven more years in office.
Ireland’s past as a deeply conservative, Catholic nation was the standard until fairly recently when shifts in public attitude led to the legalization of gay marriage and abortion, most notably.
The strongest support for ending the blasphemy ban came from younger voters, The Guardian noted. It has been over 150 years since anyone was actually prosecuted for the “crime.”
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