Denmark is on the Verge of Repealing Its Blasphemy Law

Denmark is one of the few European nations that has a blasphemy law.

While it’s considered something of a relic, that didn’t stop one prosecutor from trying to use it this past February against a man who burned a Qur’an in late 2015. The law’s mere existence also suggests that religious criticism or symbolic acts ought to be forbidden, providing support to those countries where people are regularly punished (or killed) for speaking out against popular dogma.

That may finally be changing this week, after the ruling party in the Danish government finally voiced their support for a repeal, which could happen as early as this Friday.

This article is in Danish, but a rough translation is below.

“We have agreed to support the proposal to abolish the blasphemy clause”, said Liberal political spokesman, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen.

…

The government parties have basically had different views as to whether abolition is a good idea.

While the Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives have advocated dropping the controversial clause, then the official policy of the Left has been that it supported the clause.

According to reader Brian, who passed this along, the support of the Liberal Party (not to be confused with the Liberal Alliance) should give the “repeal” side the numbers they need to finally repeal the law for good.

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