Smart people, even if they are atheists (and this combination is quite rare), still refrain from blasphemy. Yes, just in case. And it's not just the fear of the possible punishment of the Almighty. Any cultured person strives to ensure that, if possible, not to offend others, among whom there are sincerely believing people.
Laws are not written for smart people who already know in most cases what to do so as not to cause moral or material damage to others. It is quite natural for a morally he althy member of society to strive to live honestly, not to steal, not to kill, not to blaspheme. It is in the very nature of human communication. However, there are, unfortunately, examples of a different attitude to public morality, when the intervention of law enforcement agencies is simply necessary.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, Orthodoxy was the state religion, but at the same time a tolerant attitude towards non-Christians, who made up a significant part of the population of the empire, was created. There were cases of aggressive xenophobia, but the authorities did everything tostop. At the same time, no one, regardless of the professed denomination, was allowed to blaspheme. This meant the inadmissibility of disrespectful use of the name of God and the public expression of disrespect for religious dogma.
During the period of large-scale social transformations that followed the October Revolution of 1917, the primordial values developed over the centuries were actively violated. Children were forced to disown their parents, brother was against brother, and people were forced to blaspheme. This was done in order to create a new religion, which had its own holy relics in the mausoleum on Red Square, its own “red Easter” - May Day, and an analogue of Christmas - the Anniversary of the Great Revolution on November 7th. Insulting, however unintentionally, the new relics brought punishment much more severe than the punishment for blasphemy in past times. A newspaper used for hygienic purposes (there were also problems with pipifax) could become evidence if a portrait of one of the leaders was printed on it.
After 1991, freedom of conscience became a reality in Russia. The people, unaccustomed to grace, became churched en masse. Moreover, it became fashionable to visit the temple, and politicians who actively promoted atheism in Soviet times began to boldly and ineptly baptize themselves in front of television cameras. Such spectacles did not at all add to their authority, but their negative consequence was the attitude towards the church as a state body serving the authorities, which is fundamentally wrong.
Freedoma man of low culture and underdeveloped is understood as permissiveness. The organizers of unsanctioned rallies and other protests, while portraying an unbending determination to resist the "arbitrariness of the authorities", are somewhat disingenuous. They know perfectly well that there will be no severe punishment, except for a fine that they can afford. At least until some serious article of the Criminal Code is violated.
The members of the pop group "Pussy Riot" apparently did not initially intend to blaspheme. It just kind of happened by itself, out of ignorance. However, the believers who gathered for the church service perceived their scandalous dances and indistinct exclamations near the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior as an insult to their religious feelings. And not only they, but the Orthodox of the whole world reacted to this act, to the surprise of the "liberal public", quite sharply.
Pussy Riot was supported by many public organizations and individual celebrities. They demanded to be released, and immediately. Proponents of Western values saw a violation of the human rights to protest in the court's verdict.
Obviously, in this case, there is a one-sided view of the situation typical of our time. Caring about the rights of the protesters, the champions of freedom somehow forget that there are other people, believers, and they are in the majority. And they have their own ideas about what is good and what is bad.
The blasphemy law in Russia is designed to protect the rights of those who profess the valuestraditional for our multinational and multi-confessional society. First of all, it concerns the Orthodox community, which, despite its large number, shows a tolerance for vandalism that is rare in our time. We would try “Pussy Riot” to sing and dance in the mosque…
