By Ryan Dudley
It might surprise many South Carolinians to learn that blasphemy is still punishable by jail time in their state — an absurdity that needs to be remedied.
Under South Carolina code section 16-17-520, it’s a misdemeanor to use “blasphemous, profane, or obscene language” at or near a house of worship.
South Carolina is one of only six states that still have archaic anti-blasphemy laws, alongside Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wyoming. These antediluvian statutes date back to America’s colonial era, long before the U.S. Constitution, when church and state were entangled and religious orthodoxy was enforced by law.
You might assume laws like this aren’t enforced anymore. But in Pennsylvania, it happened as recently as 2010. George Kalman attempted to register a film production company named I Choose Hell Productions. State officials rejected his application because state statute says corporation names were not allowed to be “blasphemous.”
Thankfully, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania stepped in. The court ruled that the state’s enforcement of its blasphemy statute violated the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and religion. And yet, that unconstitutional law remains on the statute books, just like South Carolina’s law remains today.
Why? Not because anyone is defending it. Not because it’s needed. But because no one has taken the time to repeal it.
Leaving laws like this in place sends the wrong message. It tells South Carolinians that your rights are conditional, that religious speech is protected, but religious dissent can still be punished.
And it leaves open the possibility that someone could misuse the law again, especially since the U.S. Supreme Court has shown a willingness to rewrite constitutional law in favor of religious litigants.
Even conservative evangelical politicians agree that blasphemy laws are wrong.
In December 2019, U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, introduced a bipartisan Senate resolution calling for the global repeal of blasphemy laws. The resolution condemned foreign governments that jail or persecute individuals for religious speech and nonbelief.
It passed unanimously in the Senate in December 2020, less than two weeks after the House passed a matching resolution introduced by Rep Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, by a vote of 386–3.
Such rare and overwhelming support demonstrates that protecting religious expression, including the freedom to question or reject religion, is a shared American value that transcends party lines.
It’s also worth noting that faith-based religious liberty advocates, including the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, support repealing blasphemy laws.
They recognize and acknowledge what the Founding Fathers believed: True religious freedom requires the freedom to criticize, question, reject religion, and speak freely without fear of censorship or punishment.
For South Carolina, the solution is clear. Repeal the state’s blasphemy law and bring its statutes in line with established Supreme Court precedent.
Doing so costs nothing, harms no one and reaffirms the state’s commitment to both religious liberty and freedom of expression for all.
Ryan joined Freedom From Religion Foundation as the state policy manager, a new position, in 2022. He has worked in advocacy roles for a number of nonprofits as well as a nonpartisan legislative research analyst for both the Colorado General Assembly and the Wisconsin General Assembly. Ryan also served in the Army National Guard from 2007-2015. He earned a bachelor of arts in political science from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and a master of public policy from DePaul University in Chicago. He lives in Madison, Wis.
