Imagine living in a country where you can get fined or thrown in jail for mistreating a book. You do not have to imagine because it is going to happen in the nation of Denmark. This year, there have been 500 demonstrations in Denmark by anti-Islam activists that have included burning the Quran or flags. This has led to outrage from Muslim-majority nations. That outrage translated into political pressure.
Last week, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed a law that makes it a crime to "inappropriately treat, publicly or with the intention of dissemination in a wider circle, a writing with significant religious significance for a religious community." While the law does not mention the Quran by name, it nevertheless was designed with Quran desecration in mind. The Danish Justice Peter Hummelgaard made that point clear the day the bill passed. The law de jure punishes burning the Quran either with fines or two years of jail time.
It should come as no surprise that I take issue with the Folketinget's decision. I know Denmark is not the United States. Thankfully, freedom of speech is so well-protected in the United States that burning a U.S. flag is constitutional. As I pointed out in 2016, burning a flag of the United States is not how I would personally go about expressing discontent. However, I did point out that the flag is their property and they should be allowed to burn it, especially since they are not physically harming anyone. I would extend this argument to burning a Quran. To quote British media outlet UnHerd:
"There can be no doubt that book burnings are crude, deliberately provocative, and a poor substitute for reasoned debate. But when conducted by private individuals, they serve as non-violent symbolic expressions intended to convey a message -- the essence of freedom of expression."
For a free society to function, people need to be allowed to say or do things that are deemed offensive. I have brought up that offensiveness is subjective and that trying to not offend anyone has no upper limit when it comes to censorship. I have been for freedom of speech and expression, which includes making jokes about transgender people, the continued publication of Roald Dahl books, hate speech, the French satirist newsletter Charlie Hebdo that makes fun of religions (including my religion), and an anti-semitic operetta.
Only allowing for speech you agree with is not free speech. That freedom of expression has to be allowed to those whose opinion you cannot stand. I articulated that concept last month when it came to pro-Palestine protestors and activists. These protestors base their arguments on lies, half-truths, and taking things woefully out of context. They complain about ethnic cleansing while advocating for ethnic cleansing of Jews. They bemoan a fictitious genocide while ignoring the one that Hamas is diligently working towards. While I abhor what they have to say, I support their right to express their freedom of speech under the First Amendment.
What is obvious is that Denmark's bill is designed to shield Islam from blasphemy. In 2015, I wrote a piece on how criticizing Islam is not Islamophobic, as well as how we should be able to criticize everything, including Islam. The fact that Denmark is passing this bill out of safety concerns speaks volumes. It means that Islamists have a veto over liberty in the Western world.
It is ironic because, as one Muslim scholar from Cato Institute brings up, the Quran itself says the way to deal with those who mock Islam is not banning, throwing people in jail, or the death penalty. Rather, the Quran demands patience (3:186) and staying away from the mockers (4:140). Even if the Quran allowed for punishing the mockers, do proponents think that a blasphemy law will make people respect Islam? If anything, it will only seek to agitate dissidents further while making Islam or Muslims appear too thin-skinned to handle criticism. More freedom of speech eases such tension (Bjørnskov and Mchangama, 2023). What I can anticipate is that blasphemy laws in Denmark will more likely lead to greater savagery:
"For censorship tells certain groups that their beliefs are so perfect, so pristine, so beyond the scurrilous commentary of mere mortals, that those who dissent from them are deserving of punishment. Censorship begets intolerance. In force fielding certain ideologies from criticism, it incites the adherents to those ideologies to seek out and 'discipline' the filth that dare to dissent."
Although Denmark has a population of under six million, this trend in blasphemy laws is perturbing. Denmark abolished censorship in 1770, which we can see in §77 of the Danish Constitution. Look at the Index for Reporters sans frontières (RSF), or Reporters without Borders in English. Denmark has ranked in the Top Ten for greatest freedom on information. Denmark's enactment of blasphemy laws is worrisome indeed. Reason Magazine aptly summarizes my concerns:
"Denmark's surrender to violent extremists and states that imprison, lash, and execute 'blasphemers' is a disturbing sign of the free speech recession that is sweeping the globe in the 21st century. One can only hope that the First Amendment [in the U.S. Constitution] will continue to serve as inspiration to liberal reformers across the globe in a world where free speech is in fast retreat."
Having to serve jail time simply for insulting a religion is not progress. Mimicking the intolerance of Islamists is not going to make them disappear or feel placated. All that Denmark's legislative move will do is embolden the most radical elements in Danish society while further eroding freedom. Having some people offended is a small price to pay for freedom. I hope the rest of the world realizes the importance of freedom of speech before we are further enveloped by the iniquity of authoritarianism.
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