Islam Bans Freedom of Speech for All Human Beings

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The police in both Norway and Sweden have recently banned people from burning a copy of the Koran. The Danish-Swedish lawyer, politician and activist Rasmus Paludan has burned the Koran in public several times. Muslims staged violent riots over this in several Swedish cities in April 2022.[1] Recently, this has triggered international Islamic protests against Sweden. Turkish President Erdogan has threatened to block Sweden’s NATO membership bid partly because it remains legal in Sweden to burn the Koran.[2]

In February 2023 Swedish police banned a planned burning of the Koran in Stockholm.[3] They cited an increased risk of terror attacks as the reason for this decision.[4] Several experts on free speech question whether the police are allowed to do this according to current Swedish law.[5]

Finland has restrictive laws when it comes to freedom of expression. Even some Finnish politicians such as Jussi Halla-aho from the Finns Party have been legally prosecuted for allegedly making hateful comments about Islam.[6] Police in Finland would not allow a public burning of the Koran, according to the National Police Board. Finnish law stipulates that violating religious peace is a punishable offence, the police board said in a statement.[7]

You can, of course, think what you will about burning books, regardless of which book it is. The fact is, however, that in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark in the year 2023 it is legal to burn books.

The Norwegian activist Hege Storhaug has been writing about Islam and immigration for many years. Her book Islam: Europe Invaded. America Warned is also available in English. She criticized the authorities after the police banned a group from burning a copy of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Oslo.[8] Again, it is questionable whether the police are allowed to do this according to current Norwegian law.

The police in Sweden and Norway are effectively saying in public that they cannot or will not uphold our secular laws, because they are afraid of violent reactions from Muslims. There really is no other way to interpret this behavior. This amounts to submission to Islamic religious law, sharia, and to Islamic rule.

Those who argue that we should simply stop offending Muslims do not understand Islam. The late Kurt Westergaard was one of several Danish artists who made a drawing of Muhammad for the newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005. This was deemed offensive by many Muslims, therefore some of them wanted to kill him. Culture editor Flemming Rose and others from Jyllands-Posten have also lived with threats for years for publishing these Muhammad cartoons.[9]

The late Swedish artist Lars Vilks lived as a virtual prisoner during the final years of his life in Sweden. He had made some drawings of Muhammad, so Jihadists wanted to murder him for offending their prophet. Vilks was also a presumed target of the deadly terrorist attacks carried out by a militant Muslim man in Copenhagen in 2015.[10]

The Danish author Lars Hedegaard didn’t make any drawings; he simply used words to criticize Islam. Yet he suffered an assassination attempt in his own home in Denmark in 2013 because his words had offended some Muslims.[11]

The author Salman Rushdie in 1988 wrote the novel The Satanic Verses, which some Muslims deemed offensive. In 1989, Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khomeini publicly denounced the book and all those involved in its publication. Because of this, a militant Muslim man tried to murder Rushdie on August 12, 2022, in the USA. Salman Rushdie survived this attack with serious injuries. He subsequently lost vision in one eye.[12]

The Norwegian publisher William Nygaard himself has neither said nor written anything that is particularly offensive to Islam. However, he published a book by another person who is said to have offended Islam, Rushdie. Because of this, Nygaard in 1993 barely survived an assassination attempt outside of his home in Oslo, Norway.[13] Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese translator of The Satanic Verses, was stabbed to death in Japan in 1991.[14]

None of the Scandinavian countries has previously been under Islamic rule. Muslims have only lived in Scandinavia in significant numbers for the past two generations. They still constitute a small minority there, albeit a rapidly growing minority due to continued immigration and high Muslim birth rates. Yet individuals in Scandinavia who are themselves not Muslims still risk being killed if they do or say anything which some Muslims find offensive or insulting.

If you are not Muslim and live according to your own culture and laws, then your mere existence is offensive to Islam.

There are over eight billion people on Earth today. Islam forbids freedom of speech for absolutely everyone, forever. According to Islamic logic, it is forbidden for all people in the world to insult Islam or its founder Muhammad. Such perceived blasphemy can potentially be punished by death. This applies to all human beings everywhere, regardless of whether they themselves are not Muslim or live in a country where Muslims are just a minority.

Notes:

1.   www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61134734 Dozens arrested at Sweden riots sparked by planned Quran burnings. 18 April 2022.
2.   www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64446439 Erdogan says Turkey may block Sweden’s NATO membership bid. 29 January 2023.
3.   www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/de-nekades-tillstand-att-branna-koranen-utanfor-ambassaden-ville-stoppa-nato-ansokan Han nekades tillstånd att bränna Koranen utanför ambassaden — ville stoppa Nato-ansökan. February 9, 2023. www.dw.com/en/sweden-issues-rare-ban-over-quran-burning-rally/a-64648255 Sweden issues rare ban over Quran burning rally. February 8, 2023.
4.   www.thelocal.se/20230209/swedish-police-block-new-koran-burning-bid-outside-turkish-embassy/ Swedish police block new Quran burning bid outside Turkish embassy. 9 February 2023. www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/sapo-allvarliga-hot-om-attentat-mot-sverige-okar Säpo: Hot om attentat mot Sverige ökar. February 8, 2023.
5.   www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/kritik-fran-yttrandefrihetsexperten-nils-funcke-en-ny-dimension
6.   www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/jussi-halla-aho-quiet-hardliner-behind-finlands-populist-uproar/ Jussi Halla-aho, quiet hardliner behind Finland’s populist uproar. Apr 15, 2019.
7.   yle.fi/a/74-20015426 Police: Koran burning would not be allowed in Finland. 30.1.2023.
8.   www.rights.no/2023/02/volds-islam-vant-over-ytringsfriheten-i-norge-forbudt-a-brenne-koranen/ Volds-islam vant over ytringsfriheten i Norge: Forbudt å brenne koranen. 08.02.2023. www.document.no/2023/02/02/sian-skal-brenne-koran-foran-tyrkias-ambassade-norges-ambassador-innkalt/ Politiet forbyr Sian å brenne Koranen, viser til “uoversiktlig trusselbilde”. February 2, 2023.
9.   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
10.   www.nbcnews.com/storyline/copenhagen-shootings/fatal-copenhagen-shooting-lars-vilks-was-terrorist-attack-prime-minister-n306316 Fatal Copenhagen Shooting at Lars Vilks Was ‘Terrorist Attack’: Prime Minister. Feb. 14, 2015.
11.   www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/mistaenkt-drabsforsoeg-paa-lars-hedegaard-efterlyses Mistænkt for drabsforsøg på Lars Hedegaard efterlyses. 16. Dec 2016.
12.   www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64537770 Sir Salman Rushdie speaks for the first time about ‘colossal attack’. February 6, 2023.
13.   www.theguardian.com/books/2010/nov/26/norwegian-publisher-william-nygaard Norwegian publishers offer reward to solve William Nygaard case. 26 Nov 2010.
14.   www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/08/14/national/crime-legal/salman-rushdie-hitoshi-igarashi-murder/ Rushdie attack recalls 1991 killing of his Japanese translator. Aug 14, 2022.
 

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3 thoughts on “Islam Bans Freedom of Speech for All Human Beings

  1. Long ago I found an article of a small group of christians (not of the big groups like Catholics etc).
    There the leader of this group said that so called “artists” have no problem defaming christianity because the only reaction will be letters to the editor, while defaming Islam ends with your head chopped off.

    A member of Monty Python said nearly the same a few years ago.

    I wonder how those “artists” would react if
    either
    1) they would be forced by law to make their art for all religion, so if one “artists” puts a bible in human refuse, he also has to do the same with the Quoran etc
    or
    2) Christians would react like Muslims, you know chopping off heads.

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