Freedom Of Speech Triumphs Anew In Germany
Man jailed for making Koran toilet paper
We're going to be experiencing fallout from the Danish cartoon scandal for the next few months, at least. After all, it's the most overreaching European scandal in recent memory. And until we reach equilibrium again, it seems that examples will be made.
Okay, Germany (or Europe) is not America. There are different sensitivities, to be sure, and we're going to see on painstaking display as people weigh in on the case of Manfred van H., who got a one-year prison sentence and five years' suspension for making and distributing toilet paper with the word "Koran" on it. Indignant American bloggers are going to go loose on how oppressive the sentencing is. That should be the main problem, at least -- the sentence. Even for many European states, which are secular but tend to safeguard the dignity of religions, transgressions merit little more than a slap on the hand. That must be why they're trying to quietly shuffle this one through the press -- because the punishment was completely inappropriate for the crime.
The toilet paper was offensive, okay? It was maverick provocation of religious sensitivities, it was aggressive and kind of hateful. But Germany (and Austria -- check the reaction to David Irving's sentencing) is going to draw a lot of flak for coming off lenient on murderers and violent criminals, but imposing harsh -- though still not even maximal -- penalties for outdated and underused legislature. Most of the times they dusted this law from 1871 off, it's resulted in banning of the content in question, which is questionable, but whatever. Throwing the book at this guy requires a lot more scrutiny.
The statement was stark, and so Manfred will be our latest free speech scapegoat. Putting sacred text on toilet paper is a bit too much of a wind-up for German critics.