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Kopimism, the Pirate Party, and separation between church and state
BE24 ^ | 14 August 2013 | Christian Engström

Posted on 09/19/2013 6:18:27 AM PDT by Alex Murphy

The Pirate Party is a religiously unattached political party that wants to see a secular state where the state and religion are separated.

Freedom of religion, i.e.: everybody’s right to believe in what he or she wants (or nothing at all) is a fundamental human right (Article 9 in the ECHR), and quite rightly so. Everybody shall have the right to practice and live by their own religion, as long as it does not infringe other people’s human rights.

The state should not be a part of the church, and the church should not be a part of the state.

Kopimism is a politically unattached young religion that has official status as a religion in Sweden, after a decision by Kammarkollegiet — blessed be its name! The Missionary Church of Kopimism is a church that is also politically unattached, and wants to see the Kopimist ideas spread over the world by copying.

So far, there are no problems, of course. But to complicate things, there appears to be a quite obvious overlap between people who are active in the Pirate movement and Kopimism, respectively. Many have pointed this out, and nobody has denied it.

The Missionary Church of Kopimism was started by Isak Gerson and Gustav Nipe, both active Pirates. Nipe’s daytime job is to be the chairman of the Swedish Pirate Party’s youth organization Young Pirate. That is admittedly a link.

Me, I am a member of the European Parliament for the Pirate Party. I mostly blog about pirate politics, but I have also written a number of blog posts on Kopimism, and intend to continue doing so. Both the Swedish Pirate Party’s founder Rick Falkvinge and our current party leader Anna Troberg have been blogging about Kopimism, Swedish Wikipedia notes.

So it would be slightly silly to try to deny that there appears to be quite a strong personal union between the two movements.

I see no conflict between being politically active in the Pirate Party for a secular society, and being a Kopimist. On the contrary, I see it as to parts that fit perfectly together. If I want the right get to heaven my own way and to believe in what I want (like Kopimism), then it is natural that I defend that right for everybody. ”First they came for the Jews, but I wasn’t a Jew…” etc.

If you are a follower of a religion (in particular a small unpopular religion) the smartest thing to do is to be in favor of the secular state, for purely egoistic reasons if nothing else. If you let the religion that happens to be the strongest at a particular time get control of legislation and police force, you never know where things will end up. Or more accurately: You know precisely, because that has already happened far too many times in history, and is still going on today.

”Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s,” Jesus said in his days. If he meant that state and church should be separate, I agree with him. That is how it should be.

•The Pirate Party does not think that file sharing should be legalized because Kopimism sees free copying as something holy. We think that file sharing should be legalized becuse it’s a good idea from a democratic, economic, and cultural perspective, on purely political and humanistic grounds.

•Kopimism is not trying to get some sort of religious exception for Kopimists only, that would give us a special license to share files without risking punishment. This is most clearly demonstrated by the fact that the Kopimist church has been founded by people who are politically active in the Pirate Party, and are already working to legalize file sharing for everybody.

The Pirate Party and Kopimism are two different movements, a political and a religious one, that have different goals and work in different areas. But that doesn’t prevent any individual from being active in both, if he or she feels like it.

And remember, it’s only religion we’re talking about. Religion is never more serious that you choose to see it. What is one person’s most sacred belief, may be just a more or less silly joke to another. This is how it’s always been for all religions, and Kopimism is no exception.

To all who see Kopimism as a joke, I hope that you at least think it’s reasonably funny. If not, all you have to do is to surf on to something else.

As long as we all remember to treat each other in a nice and respectful manner, even if we happen to have different opinions on religion or anything else, it’s not a problem that we are all different. This is an asset, and just how it should be.


TOPICS: Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics; Skeptics/Seekers
KEYWORDS:
Kopimism is a politically unattached young religion that has official status as a religion in Sweden, after a decision by Kammarkollegiet — blessed be its name! The Missionary Church of Kopimism is a church that is also politically unattached, and wants to see the Kopimist ideas spread over the world by copying. So far, there are no problems, of course. But to complicate things, there appears to be a quite obvious overlap between people who are active in the Pirate movement and Kopimism, respectively. Many have pointed this out, and nobody has denied it.

The Missionary Church of Kopimism was started by Isak Gerson and Gustav Nipe, both active Pirates. Nipe’s daytime job is to be the chairman of the Swedish Pirate Party’s youth organization Young Pirate. That is admittedly a link....it would be slightly silly to try to deny that there appears to be quite a strong personal union between the two movements....

....If you are a follower of a religion (in particular a small unpopular religion) the smartest thing to do is to be in favor of the secular state, for purely egoistic reasons if nothing else. If you let the religion that happens to be the strongest at a particular time get control of legislation and police force, you never know where things will end up. Or more accurately: You know precisely, because that has already happened far too many times in history, and is still going on today....

....remember, it’s only religion we’re talking about. Religion is never more serious that you choose to see it. What is one person’s most sacred belief, may be just a more or less silly joke to another. This is how it’s always been for all religions, and Kopimism is no exception.

1 posted on 09/19/2013 6:18:27 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
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To: Alex Murphy
In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church in the U.S.S.R. is separated from the state, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of antireligious propaganda is recognized for all citizens.

(Article 124 of 1936 “Stalin” constitution)

Citizens of the USSR are guaranteed freedom of conscience, that is, the right to profess or not to profess any religion, and to conduct religious worship or atheistic propaganda. Incitement of hostility or hatred on religious grounds is prohibited. In the USSR, the church is separated from the state, and the school from the church.

(Article 52 of 1977 constitution)
That sure worked out well . . .
2 posted on 09/19/2013 6:27:15 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Alex Murphy

Why would a religion that seeks total separation between state and religion apply to the state to be recognized as a religion?


3 posted on 09/19/2013 6:28:51 AM PDT by WayneS (Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos...)
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To: Alex Murphy; All

What is the dividing line between persecution and tolerance in regards to a public display of a religious belief, tradition or ceremony?

BTW, our Founding Fathers, especially Jefferson, did not want a State supported Church to be established in America in the same manner that The Church of England was established in England.

Hence, Jefferson’s writings on the topic of “The Separation of Church and State.”


4 posted on 09/19/2013 6:32:33 AM PDT by Graewoulf (Traitor John Roberts' Commune-Style Obama'care' violates U.S. Constitution AND Anti-Trust Law.)
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To: WayneS
Why would a religion that seeks total separation between state and religion apply to the state to be recognized as a religion?

It's part of a larger strategy:

Russian adepts of free web data flow plan to register their own religious organization to battle copyright laws. Adherents of the Kopimi, or Copy Me, movement believe the process of exchanging data is sacred and intend to bring the argument to court. Activists in five Russian cities: Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan and Khabarovsk will officially apply documents to register a church of their own Monday – so that they could launch an assault on copyright laws that “insult religious feelings of the believers”, the chairman of the Russian Pirate Party Pavel Rassudov told Izvestia. “The church registration process will take years but adepts of kopimism will have the right to sue the anti-pirate laws,” Rassudov insisted....

....The new church intends to stream into being on the wave of 2 recent laws that stirred media frenzy in Russia. The first one is the freshly signed piece of legislation on insulting believers’ feelings that materialized after the furor Pussy Riot’s caused in Moscow Christ the Savior Cathedral. The other one is the new anti-piracy law, which came into force on Thursday, allowing pre-trial blocking of web-pages to protect movies and TV series from unlicensed downloading. Some 1,700 Russian websites blacked out to protest upcoming unwarranted shutting down on August 1.
-- from the thread Digital religion: Russian Pirate Church eyes registration


5 posted on 09/19/2013 6:35:48 AM PDT by Alex Murphy (Just a common, ordinary, simple savior of America's destiny.)
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To: WayneS; Alex Murphy
Ask the Roman Catholics.

The Vatican is recognized by a host of nations and has observer status at the UN.

6 posted on 09/19/2013 6:39:06 AM PDT by Gamecock (Many Atheists take the stand: "There is no God AND I hate Him.")
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To: Gamecock

I think you missed my point. The Roman Catholic Church does not seek total separation between church and state.


7 posted on 09/19/2013 6:40:28 AM PDT by WayneS (Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos...)
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To: Alex Murphy

The problem arises when rules of conduct based on religious beliefs are set aside because, since they originate in religion they are an evil imposition upon the non-religious or other-religious.


8 posted on 09/19/2013 6:41:09 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: Alex Murphy

Okay. That explains it. They are essentially hypocritical thieves who are using religious “registration” to allow them to steal, while publically advocating separation of church and state.


9 posted on 09/19/2013 6:43:40 AM PDT by WayneS (Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos...)
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To: Gamecock

Since when was the Vatican interested in separation between church and state? Heck, they actually ARE a church-state.


10 posted on 09/19/2013 6:43:55 AM PDT by Blackyce (French President Jacques Chirac: "As far as I'm concerned, war alwaysmeans failure.")
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To: WayneS

I think I did.


11 posted on 09/19/2013 6:48:37 AM PDT by Gamecock (Many Atheists take the stand: "There is no God AND I hate Him.")
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To: WayneS

The Pirate Party and Kopists are not one and the same lol

I actually agree with the Pirate party regarding separation of church and state. In parts of Europe it’s destroyed the church’s... because it’s punitive to belong to a church, as the tithing come straight out of your paycheck.


12 posted on 09/19/2013 6:54:43 AM PDT by Katya (Homo Nosce Te Ipsum)
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To: Alex Murphy

I think the Kopimists may be courting trouble by retroactively “Kopying” (equivalent to Baptizing) the ancestors of Mormons as Kopimists.

/sarcasm


13 posted on 09/19/2013 6:54:47 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (The best War on Terror News is at rantburg.com)
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To: WayneS
Okay. That explains it. They are essentially hypocritical thieves who are using religious “registration” to allow them to steal, while publically advocating separation of church and state.

Almost. They're advocating separation so that when their own "copying" of intellectual property is officially recognized as a religious belief/practice, they can take the government to court to overturn copyright laws as a violation of church/state separation.

14 posted on 09/19/2013 6:55:37 AM PDT by Alex Murphy (Just a common, ordinary, simple savior of America's destiny.)
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To: Alex Murphy

We’re already having a pirate party here,since its International Talk Like a Pirate Day.I’ve been drunk since about this morning..Arhhhhhhhhh


15 posted on 09/19/2013 7:01:34 AM PDT by Paddyboy (Roma Omnia Vincit)
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To: Gamecock

Based on the reporting in the article, the religion called Kopimism espouses a philosophy of complete separation between religion and the state.

I, therefore, thought it ironic (or perhaps hypocritical) that the Kopimists would apply to the government of Sweden for ‘recognition’ as a religion.

It seems to me that if one believes in complete separation between religion and state, one would not even acknowledge that the state has the power to recognize (or not recognize) one’s religion.


16 posted on 09/19/2013 7:03:21 AM PDT by WayneS (Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos...)
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To: Olog-hai
For entirely selfish reasons, I have decided to repeat the Pirate Religion joke I posted earlier on another thread ('cause I think it's pretty funny):

Pirates have a church? Are they Eastern Arrrrrrthodox?

(with apologies to those who have already seen it)

17 posted on 09/19/2013 7:08:04 AM PDT by WayneS (Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos...)
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To: Alex Murphy

Silly

We cannot outlaw murder, that’s your religion- we cannot impose that on everyone.

insanity


18 posted on 09/19/2013 7:08:17 AM PDT by GeronL
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