Yvonne Sherwood, Professor of Biblical Cultures and Politics in the Department of Religious Studies, was recently interviewed for BBC Radio 4’s ‘Beyond Belief’ programme for an episode on blasphemy.

Yvonne describes how many people trace the roots of blasphemy to the Ten Commandments and to the idea of ‘taking the name of the Lord in vain’, but also discusses the general uncertainty over what blasphemy means in a modern context.

Discussing the right to free speech and causing offence, Yvonne says: ‘Many people feel the privileging of religious beliefs is a special category that needs to be protected over political beliefs…and also the idea that someone’s religious identity goes to the very core of their person and must be respected.’