The Bible and Fifty Shades of Grey share more than a few raunchy sex scenes. On Banned Books Week and International Blasphemy Rights Day, these eight titles are still too hot to handle.

Anti-discrimination laws should protect people. The United Arab Emirates’ new law, issued by royal decree, criminalizes the criticism of religions and ideas. It should be scrapped.

If freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief are mutually reinforcing rights, why are we still arguing over the rules of engagement and sidelining key stakeholders?

America remains buried under three feet of glitter. More than 1,000 people have died during a Ramadan heatwave in Karachi. And an “abortion drone” was spotted dropping pills over conservative Poland. Read on.

In May 2012, Malaysia’s religious authorities raided a bookstore and confiscated “Allah, Liberty and Love.” A store manager was charged for selling the “banned” book, which was only banned six days after the raid. Three years later and she’s still being hounded.

Jail time and hard labor for sharing an image of the Buddha wearing headphones is a shocking violation of free speech. In Myanmar, I’m far from shocked.

Cold, short February was jam-packed with some mega atrocities on the religious freedom front. Count your lucky stars it’s March, and hope for a better month ahead.

Brittany Maynard ends her life. ISIS fighters crucify a Syrian teen for taking photos. And Women of the Wall host a sneaky bat mitzvah in Jerusalem. This and more in this month’s recap.

On my (lack of) freedom trail across Asia, fresh sedition and defamation charges are pressuring journalists and activists to self-censor government criticism or face hefty consequences.

Last year a Saudi court convicted Raif Badawi of “insulting Islam” for setting up a website to foster open discussion of religion. He now faces 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes. Badawi is one of many victims of victimless thought crimes who need our support.

The World Humanist Congress adopted a declaration Sunday proclaiming, “There is no right not to be offended, or not to hear contrary opinions.” Yet nearly 100 countries have laws banning blasphemy, apostasy and defamation of religion.

Posting this in full now. I’ll comment in a subsequent post. The Oxford Declaration on Freedom of Thought and Expression The 2014 World Humanist Congress, gathered in Oxford, UK, on 8-10 August 2014, adopted the following declaration on freedom of thought and expression: All around the world and at all times, it is freedom of […]

Richard Dawkins told the World Humanist Congress in Oxford that “mild pedophilia” is not as bad as “something that would scar you for life.” Attempting to use logic and reason to rank others’ emotional scars — now that’s irrational.

Gender walls, both literal and figurative, are so entrenched in the Levant that no solution to the region’s geopolitical conflicts, no matter how miraculous, will be enough to tear them down.

New EU freedom of expression guidelines address attacks on journalists, whistleblower protection, media plurality and citizen privacy, but they also touch on opinion and belief. Here’s how the guidelines handle religion, blasphemy and hypocrisy.