11 March 2010

Blasphemy policies are no laughing matter

From Ireland to Greece and from France to Poland, Europe’s lawmakers strike an uneasy and widely varying balance between protecting freedom of speech and protecting the Church. So when will Europe finally get its principles straight, asks a Swedish journalist.

Artists have been convicted of blasphemy in several European countries. Ireland has just passed an anti-blasphemy law, even as France staunchly defends her secular society. The European Union is far more divided over freedom of speech than it would let on to the outside world.

In the hullabaloo after the Mohammad caricatures were published in the Jyllands-Posten four years ago, one voice was missing: that of a united front of European leaders defending freedom of speech. [Svenska Dagbladet] Read more [via National Secular Society]