Do Sharia states or any Muslim-majority states ever propose criminalizing criticism of Christianity? Why, no. Once again, the efforts at accommodation and gestures of good will come only from one side.
“Justice minister to withdraw blasphemy provision amid backlash,” Ekathimerini, November 12, 2019:
Justice Minister Kosta Tsiaras announced on Tuesday he will withdraw a controversial provision that would re-establish blasphemy as a crime punishable by up to two years sin prison, citing reactions to the proposed legislation.
The minister has announced a series of amendments to the new penal code that was approved by Greece’s Parliament in July this year.
Speaking to television channel SKAI, Tsiaras said the provision is aimed at “protecting the rights of religious minorities” following the tensions created by local communities around Greece against the housing of migrants and refugees who were transferred from overcrowded island camps.
“It will be withdrawn. Considering there is a general understanding that is going against it, I think we have to take it seriously,” he said….
Commenting on the announced withdrawal, Archbishop Ieronymos defended the provision, saying it aims at “protecting, in particularly troubled times, the religious sentiment of the faithful and the overriding interest of social peace and social cohesion,” describing them as rights “that cannot be trampled on by a logic of freedom of speech that includes abuse, hatred and fanaticism.”
Well, at least the Archbishop was forthright in a manner seldom seen, readily acknowledging that he supported the destruction of the freedom of speech.