I remember insisting to the then OIC’s Secretary-General in Helsinki in 2008 that:
“I must take exception to the remarks by OIC Sec-Gen Ihsanoglu, that “there is no such thing as the right to insult.” Contrary to what the Secretary-General says, Freedom of speech does, in fact, mean the right to insult. Regardless of how tasteless it may be, it is a crucial, integral part of freedom of speech, one simply can’t survive without the other.”
Presently, and over the past few years on Twitter, Police superintendent, Jari Taponen, is spreading nonsense on Finnish social media. Here he is insisting on the exact opposite of what I stated to the OIC’s top guy:
Translation:
“Need I say anything anymore?
#Sananvapaus (Free Speech) is a key #perusoikeus (basic right), however, it is not completely unlimited. People who are the subject of words also have rights that society protects
Words that insult people or groups of persons do not deserve the protection of freedom of expression”
For rational thinking people, it’s a given that people are insulted over a wide-range of things that others do not find insulting whatsoever. We learn to compensate for hurt feelings by either turning a dear ear or responding with words of our own. Those words either set the matter straight or give the person a feeling of self-satisfaction.
No one has a “right” not to feel insulted. It’s as simple as that. We need to forcefully reject any such idiocy that brings us closer to Islamic norms. Taponen, if he hasn’t already converted, is behaving in typical dhimmi fashion.
