Mick Hartley

Further to this, the Dutch have now dropped their proposed anti-blasphemy law:

In scrapping the law the cabinet is meeting the demand of parliament where a majority of parties argued that offering religious groups an extra layer of legal protection is outdated.

As an alternative the cabinet is now seeking to strengthen anti-discrimination laws against groups whatever their background, thus taking the religious component out of the equation. […]

The discussion about the use of the law, which dates back to the 1930s, made a lot of people worried that the right to freedom of speech was being eroded and that the rights of the religious not to be offended was being given the upper hand.

A majority in parliament, who also feel that religious people deserve no greater protection than non-believers, shared these worries. Jan de Wit, who is a member of the opposition Socialist Party, explains:

"The law was already a dead letter, but it is was principally wrong that believers should have more protection than non-believers. Thank goodness this has now come to an end. And anyway, who decides if God feels offended or not?"