A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Insulting the sacred in a multicultural society: the conviction of Jussi Halla-aho under the Finnish religious insult section




AuthorsÄystö Tuomas

PublisherRoutledge

Publication year2017

JournalCulture and Religion

Journal name in sourceCulture and Religion

Volume18

Issue3

First page 191

Last page211

Number of pages21

ISSN1475-5610

eISSN1475-5629

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2017.1365736


Abstract

This article analyses the most well-known and legally important contemporary Finnish religious insult case: the case of the politician Jussi Halla-aho. Concluded in 2012, the said legal process resulted in a conviction due to Halla-aho’s blog post about Islam and its sacred figures. Using a discursive framing, the article argues that the contemporary religious insult cases can, in fact, be political struggles involving various interests in a multicultural society. Building on broadly Durkheimian theorisation of the sacred, it also argues, that besides the Islamic objects set apart as sacred in the process, ‘secular’ ideals or values, such as the public order, tolerance, equality, and freedom of religion are also constructed as such and protected by the officials. By protecting Islam, the courts, in fact, aimed to protect a ‘secular sacred order’ against societal threats.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 15:43