The first episode of the FoRB Podcast. Dmytro Vovk and Merilin Kiviorg invited Ed Brown from Oslo-based Stefanus Alliance International to discuss Qur’an-burning cases in Scandinavian countries and beyond. They touched on state responses to Qur’an burning and goals of religious and anti-religious expressions, Pussy Riot songs and Buddha statues, capitalist logic behind religious tolerance and criminalization as not the best way to protect religious minorities from anti-religious speech.
Timeline:
1:08 – Qur’an-burning cases in Europe
3:04 – Scandinavian states’ responses
3:33 – Is it a (wide or narrow) blasphemy law?
4:30 – What does the Danish government mean by inappropriate treatment of religious objects?
7:50 Different reactions on criminalization in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Muslim communities
9:38 Hate speech laws and Qur’an burning
12:21 Pussy Riot and cases of religious-political expression
17:00 Goals of criminalization of Qur’an burning in Denmark
18:20 Economic security as a goal of prohibition of anti-religious speech
19:48 What should be a proper state response?