English actor, broadcaster and writer Stephen Fry is reportedly facing a police investigation over whether comments he made on an Irish TV show were blasphemous.
The Irish Independent reported on the weekend that the investigation was launched after an unidentified TV viewer from Donnybrook in Dublin complained over comments Mr Fry made on the RTE show, The Meaning of Life, in February, 2015.
The complaint relates to a reply Mr Fry made in answer to a question about what he might say if he met God. Mr Fry replied: “Bone cancer in children? What’s that about? How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It’s not right. It’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain? That’s what I’d say.”
He went on to describe “the god who created this universe, if it was created by god, is quite clearly a maniac, [an] utter maniac, totally selfish”. “We have to spend our lives on our knees thanking him. What kind of god would do that?”
Under Ireland’s Defamation Act 2009 a person who publishes or utters blasphemous material could face a fine of up to €25,000.
A clip of the comments posted on YouTube has had more than seven million views.
