RFI’s Paul Marshall co-authored an article with Jacob Rudenstrand, Deputy General Secretary of the Swedish Evangelical Alliance, in Religion Unplugged titled, “Following Quran Burnings, Will Sweden Stumble Into Anti-Blasphemy Laws?” Marshall and Rudenstrand recount the recent targeting of Salwan Momika, an activist who had been investigated by Swedish authorities since he publicly burned Qurans in 2023. They explain how Sweden, concerned about Muslim alienation and potential violence from acts such as Quran burnings, is dangerously “bending existing laws concerning hate speech into quasi-blasphemy laws.” They write:

Furthermore, the court stated that the Quran-burning demonstrations “were so far from a factual and valid criticism of religion that, by a clear margin, they also showed contempt for the Muslim community because of the group’s beliefs.” But while Quran burnings are clearly a far cry from serious expressions of religious debate, how can a court decide what is a “factual and valid criticism of religion.”

The court also held that “expressing one’s opinion about religion does not give one a free pass to do or say anything and everything without risking offending the group that holds that belief.” But this means that perceived offense may decide whether an expression is criminal or not.

Much of Sweden’s elite opinion supports such restrictions. The country has long had a state church and this has shaped an ethos of still wanting the state to support a particular view of religion — it is just that the view of religion has changed. As Åke Bonnier, former bishop in the Church of Sweden, said in an interview: “[Freedom of religion] is not about trampling on people’s inner sense of sacredness.”

But freedom of religion means that religious beliefs, or irreligious ones, can be criticized, even mocked, as happens frequently in Sweden to, for example, Christian sentiments.

In an open society, people of different faiths — Christians, Muslims, Jews, agnostics and secular humanists — must be able to live side by side in freedom and security. But they may be critically scrutinized, even ridiculed.

Read the full article: “Following Quran Burnings, Will Sweden Stumble Into Anti-Blasphemy Laws?”