Slightly edited excerpts from article from eMision.net / Protestante Digital, Madrid, Spain:
“Mats Tunehag, Spokesman on Religious Freedom for the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) a member of the Global Council of Advocates International gave a seminar on trends and concerns regarding freedom of speech in Europe and beyond. He spoke at the Apologetics Forum which took place earlier this month in El Escorial, near Madrid.
Jaume Llenas, who is the leader of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance, discloses some of the main points of Tunehag’s speech, based on the defense of the right to express opinions even when they are “contrary” to current thinking.
Llenas explained the importance of this issue within the current religious and social debate. In view of possible cuts of this right in Europe and the pressure exerted by certain growing groups, there is a need for Christians to know how to give “an adequate response” which is “the foundation of apologetics”.
When it comes to dealing with this fundamental right which is included in the Declaration of Human Rights, there´s the issue of “to what extent” we can demand. Llenas believes it is necessary for it “to be regulated in a very precise way” and to establish certain limits such as “the incitation to violence (…) or the revelation of State or military secrets”. Another limit is when the exercise of this right comes into conflict with the right of other people´s dignity. “Slandering, attributing a crime to a person, or insulting them, is not included in freedom of speech”.
However, Llenas understands that restrictions can be applied incorrectly too. For instance: Can a cartoon of Mohammed in a Danish newspaper be considered slander? “There are certain groups that don’t want us to express ourselves fully and so they call for us (to be silenced)”, adds Llenas who also points out the contradiction of some Islamic countries where “they make freedom of speech subordinate to Sharia law”, thereby limiting any expression contrary to Islam.
But in Europe we are beginning to see some similar tendencies such as the “anti-blasphemy laws” in England. Llenas thinks we must defend the right to hold and express divergent opinions. “We are passing from the freedom of speech to the right of not being offended”, he says. Without freedom of speech, “we are going towards a dictatorship where you can only express what is deemed correct”, warns Llenas. “The interchange of opinions is essential for the very existence of dialogue. We can have different opinions and it must be possible for them to be expressed”.
This way of thinking is the one that has given shape to the right in most European countries, and Llenas connects that with the positive influence of Protestantism in the formation of the modern State. He also recalled that the Bible is full of “politically incorrect” approaches for the period in which it was written. One case would be those prophets that “went against the king, the priests and the worship system.” According to Llenas, “Jesus Himself was very incorrect. He used to say some shocking things but that was the revolutionary part of His message which came directly from God. We can learn from Him”.
“Jesus made some exclusive claims such as the fact that He was the only way. He manifested His points of view. We need to learn how to express publicly and clearly our points of view without being ashamed of them. Jesus expressed them even when that meant paying a price”, he concluded.”
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