Denmark: Criticism of religion is OK, says Muslim group

The results of a survey about freedom of speech caused tempers to flare in parliament, but many, including members of the Muslim community in Denmark, have voiced support for not banning criticism of religion.

The Islamic Faith-Society strongly opposes a ban on criticism of religion. “It’s a bit of an admission of failure if people want to ban criticism of religion.” Said Imran Shah. According to Shah, “criticism is often rooted in ignorance and a debate can therefore give more understanding of the different religions and their meaning for the faithful. The problem is just that the discussion all to quickly becomes not nuanced.”

He argues that concerning the Jyllands-Postens cartoons, the emotions from the Muslim community were not about debating what should or should not be expressed, but rather, “how intelligent these cartoons were.”

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