Net on case These are comments written by Nettavisen’s editor-in-chief.
So far, we know too little about what triggered the violence of Zaniar Matapour (43) – the extreme Islamist who shot and killed two people and injured dozens of others in the terrorist attack in Oslo.
The lack of knowledge has not prevented a comprehensive debate on freedom of expression, responsibility for expression and more or less imaginative claims that an open critical debate on the politicization of Pride can trigger homophobia and extremism.
But it is already important to prevent ourselves from being blinded by ideological blinders: The biggest danger for gays are extreme and hateful Islamists who defend the death penalty against sexual minorities.
There is a common thread from Anders Behring Breivik and Philip Manshaus, via the perpetrator in the Kongsberg murders and to Zaniar Matapour: All four have committed terrorist acts on a backdrop of religious performances and psychiatry.
The context is complex, but the newly appointed Commission on Extremism is guaranteed to look at what it is about religious beliefs that radicalize some to commit acts of violence.
One possible theory is that performances that are religiously motivated gain greater authority in the individual, but that is a speculation.
We must separate opinions from actions
In recent days, several have called for so-called “utterance responsibility” and suggested that people who participate in the public debate about, for example, Pride and the association FRI have a responsibility for others developing an extreme hatred of homosexuals. It’s a pure derailment. With the same lack of logic, it can be argued that people who want a dialogue with fundamental Islamic leaders legitimize violence against homosexuals.
The right to external opinions is fundamental.
It is a human right in a liberal democratic society to think and express that homosexuals are a sin or that we have a racist and restrictive immigration policy (to take two examples each on the edge of the exchange).
The fact that someone is provoked by the opinions of others is not sufficient to prevent an open debate. Provocative opinions can not justify the violence of others.
Death penalty for homosexuality in several countries
Many people believe that homosexuality is criminal only in Muslim countries, but that is wrong. Amnesty International’s overview shows that Homosexuality is punishable in 68 countriesincluding around 30 countries with Christian majorities.
In a survey from 2017, Amnesty lists 12 countries with Islamic sharia law that carry the death penalty for homosexuality: Afghanistan, Brunei Darussalam, Iraq, Iran, Jemen, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan og Qatar.
Amnesty writes that there have certainly been executions for homosexuality in Iran and Saudi Arabia., and that IS executed at least 30 suspected homosexuals in Iraq and Syria.
Islamist and dangerous homophobia
There is a solid basis for claiming that Islamist extremism is the biggest threat to Norwegian sexual minorities. Around 100 Norwegians have enlisted as foreign fighters, including for IS, and the recent news about the connection between Arfan Bhatti, Zaniar Matapour and what the PST calls an extremely Islamist environment is frightening.
Labor politicians and leaders of the organization LIM (Gender Equality, Integration and Diversity) are now attacking the well-known Muslim leader Basim Ghozlan from the Muslim Dialogue Network and the Rabita Mosque) and asking him to correct what she perceives as hate speech against gays. In 2008, Ghozland told Dagbladet that homosexual practice is a sin, that homosexuality is a deviation and that homosexuals should be treated.
– I know many crooked Muslims who are afraid to live a free life. Therefore, it is important that the Muslim organizations take a clear stand against homophobia in Muslim communities, says Sarah Gaulin to Vårt Land.
also read
The mass shooting in Oslo: A reported terrorist incident
Death penalty and religious texts
Both the Bible and the Koran have quotations where there is the death penalty for certain actions.
Arfan Bhatti has recently posted quotes on Facebook that one should kill anyone who acts like Lot’s people. This is a story found in both the Bible and the Qur’an (Lot lived in the city of Sodom, which along with the city of Gomorrah was destroyed in a divine punishment).
– The quote is one of the hadiths used as a basis for the death penalty for homosexuality in Islam, sier advises Sylo Taraku in Tankesmien Agenda to NRK.
But according to Sylo Taraku, there is no specific punishment for homosexuality in the Qur’an.
Read his article in Aftenposten: Has the West exported intolerance of homosexuals to Islam?
Prejudiced Christians
Homophobia is not a phenomenon that is reserved for traditional Muslims, prejudices live on well among fundamentalist Christians (I get daily reminders of this in my own email). But even though both Anders Behring Breivik and Philip Manshaus had Christian inspirations, violence against homosexuals is not widespread among conservative Christians.
The biggest threat to sexual minorities in Norway thus obviously comes from extreme Islamist circles, and there is no quick fix. But even if we confront homophobia among Islamists, we must not downplay homophobia among conservative Christians.
The right to love whoever you want without fear and to express what you want are fundamental rights we must call for.
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