Esa's Notebook

Sweden has been the target of hatred from Islamic countries after the Koran has been burned in Sweden. The protester himself is a Christian, and he justified his action by saying that the Koran is dangerous to Swedish society and should be banned.

Sweden has previously had a law on blasphemy since the 1500s (https://www.eurel.info/spip.php?rubrique542&lang=en). Subsequently, Swedish law no longer considered it necessary to protect religion from discrimination, and a new law from year 2002 prohibits discrimination on grounds such as nationality, race, skin color and sexuality. In Sweden, religion is seen as a private matter for people, which society and legislation should not interfere with. Thus, actual blasphemy is not considered a criminal offence there.

The Act on Breach of Religious Peace is still in force in Finland (Criminal Code, Section 17, Section 10). According to it, one is guilty of violating the peace of faith if one publicly blasphemes God or publicly slanders or desecrates what (..) the Church or religious community otherwise considers sacred.

It seems strange that religion, which is a very important and personal matter for many people, should not be under the protection of society. I think it is important that all spirituality is respected and that the values and things that people hold sacred are not ridiculed. The fact that a person is a committed Christian does not, in my view, justify mocking things sacred to non-Christian people. Everyone can practice their own spirituality in peace, but also protected by society, so that whether Christian or Muslim or Buddhist, holy books and sacred things remain valuable and sacred even in the eyes of society.  That seems to me to be a sign of a society that is aware of and values sacred principles. Let’s rise from secular values to sacred values. From materialism to higher meanings. It would be good for everyone to look up from material things to higher meanings from time to time.