Smart people, even if they are atheists (and such a combination is quite rare), still refrain from blasphemy. So, just in case. And the matter is not only in fear of the possible punishment of the Most High. Any cultured person strives not to offend others if possible, among which there are sincerely believing people.
Laws are not written for smart people who already know in most cases what to do in order not to inflict moral or material damage on others. Quite naturally, the desire of a mentally healthy member of society to live honestly, not to steal, not to kill, not to blaspheme. This is inherent 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 was created towards the Gentiles, who made up a significant part of the population of the empire. Cases of aggressive xenophobia did occur, but the authorities did everything to stop them. At the same time, no one, regardless of the professed denomination, was allowed to blaspheme. This meant the inadmissibility of the disrespectful use of the name of God and the public expression of disrespect for religious dogmas.
During the period of large-scale social transformations that followed the October Revolution of 1917, the original values developed by centuries were actively trampled upon. Children were forced to renounce their parents, a brother walked against his brother, and people were forced to blaspheme. This was done in order to create a new religion, which had its holy relics in the mausoleum on Red Square, its own "Red Easter" - May Day, and the analogue of Christmas - the anniversary of the Great Revolution on November 7. Insulting, albeit inadvertently, the new relics entailed punishment much more severe than the punishment for blasphemy in past times. The newspaper could be used for hygiene purposes (there were also problems with pipifax) if a portrait of one of the leaders was printed on it.
After 1991, in Russia, freedom of conscience became a reality. The people, weaned from grace, were massively churching. Moreover, it became fashionable to visit the temple, and politicians who actively promoted atheism in Soviet times began to swing out and baptize themselves in front of camera lenses. Such spectacles did not at all add authority to them, but their bad consequence was their attitude to the church as a state body serving the government, which is fundamentally wrong.
Freedom by a person of low culture and underdeveloped is understood as permissiveness. Organizers of unauthorized rallies and other protests, portraying an unbending determination to confront the "arbitrariness of the authorities," are somewhat cunning. They know very 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.
Members of the pop group Pussy Riot apparently did not intend to blaspheme initially. It turned out somehow by itself, out of folly. However, believers gathered for church service, took their scandalous dances and slurred 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.
For "Pussy Riot" stood up for many public organizations and individual celebrities. They were demanded to be released, and immediately. In a court verdict, advocates of Western values perceived a violation of human rights to protest.
Obviously, in this case there is a one-sided view of the situation typical of our time. Caring for the rights of protesters, advocates of freedom somehow forget that there are other people, believers, and their majority. And they have their own ideas about what is good and what is bad.
The Law on Blasphemy in Russia is designed to protect the rights of those who profess values that are traditional for our multinational and multiconfessional society. First of all, it concerns the Orthodox community, which, despite its large number, shows a rare tolerance for vandalism in our time. They would try Pussy Riot to sing and dance in mosques ...