Quran burning in Sweden prompts debate on the fine line between freedom of expression and incitement of hatred

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The spate of Quran-burning incidents followed an act of desecration by far-right activist Rasmus Paludan on Jan. 21, 2023, in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

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The ConversationThe Conversation
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https://theconversation.com/quran-burning-in-sweden-prompts-debate-on-the-fine-line-between-freedom-of-expression-and-incitement-of-hatred-211849https://theconversation.com/quran-burning-in-sweden-prompts-debate-on-the-fine-line-between-freedom-of-expression-and-incitement-of-hatred-211849
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星期二, 八月 29, 2023
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Tags: 
Hatred, Communication, First Amendment of the Constitution of India, Legislation, Freedom, Blasphemy, Religion, Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006, Violence, Race (human categorization), Speech, Danish Code, Russian Orthodox Church, Head, Sacredness, Burn, Puritans, Muslims, Crown, First, Vladimir Putin, European Court, Pussy Riot, Police, International human rights law, Human rights, Islam, Catholic Church, Relative key, Society, Death, Tongue, Constitution, Behavior, Drug, Mobile phone, Birth control, Jewellery, Hunting, Quran, Christianity
Geotags: 
MASSACHUSETTS, SWEDEN, IRELAND, SWITZERLAND, ITALY, DENMARK, ENGLAND, GERMANY, RUSSIA, SPAIN, EUROPE, AUSTRIA, FLORIDA, FRANCE
摘要
Key Points: 
  • The spate of Quran-burning incidents followed an act of desecration by far-right activist Rasmus Paludan on Jan. 21, 2023, in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
  • On Aug. 25, Denmark’s government said it would “criminalize” desecration of religious objects and moved a bill banning the burning of scriptures.
  • As a scholar of European studies, I’m interested in how modern European societies are trying to navigate the fine line between freedom of expression and the need to prevent incitement of hatred; a few are introducing laws specifically addressing hate speech.

Death penalty for insulting God and church

    • For instance, the Danish Code from 1683 punished people by cutting off their tongue, head or hands.
    • In 1636, English Puritan settlers in Massachusetts instituted the penalty of death for blasphemy.
    • Advocating for a strict separation of church and state, France became the first country to repeal its blasphemy law in 1881.

European landscape of blasphemy laws

    • Several countries in Europe retain blasphemy laws, but their approaches are highly varied.
    • Often the laws may not prevent present-day acts like dishonoring of religious texts.
    • Austria and Switzerland have laws quite similar to Germany’s in this regard.
    • This case later went up to the European Court of Human Rights, which supported the Viennese court’s decision.

Contemporary debate

    • A few countries are introducing new legislation to curb hate speech against religious communities.
    • Sweden passed a hate speech law in 1970 protecting racial, ethnic, religious and sexual minorities.
    • Because of the existing hate speech law focusing on incitement against minorities rather than religions, the activist received a fine from the police.

A global challenge

    • Even in the U.S., there’s an ongoing debate about the boundaries of free speech.
    • The First Amendment of the Constitution allows free speech, which some can interpret as the right to burn holy books.
    • Scholar of law and religion Jane Wise suggested that the U.S. could follow the English example by banning hate speech.
    • As societies change, I believe it has become important to recognize when freedom of speech has turned into promoting hatred.
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