Christians in Denmark are bothered over a proposal for a new law requiring sermons to be translated into the national language and submitted to the government.
The proposal for the new law that would require sermons to be translated in Danish and submitted for the government's review is supported by Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen himself. The proposed rule is intended to control extremist Muslim preaching but Christian organizations are worried that it would only restrict speech and religious freedom, Christian Headlines reported.
In his letter dated Jan. 27, Europe's Anglican bishop Robert Innes expressed his concern over the impact of the proposed law on religious freedom, hoping that the government would "pause to reflect on the potential implications of such proposals."
"I believe this overly restrictive step would constitute a limitation on freedom of expression, which I know is prized in Denmark, as one of the world's oldest democracies," Innes wrote.
The bishop also told The Guardian that if adopted, other countries may copy the proposal.
He added that the proposal poses practical problems contending the feasibility of the sermon's weekly translations that are usually delivered spontaneously.
"Preachers don't always write full text of their sermons, they might write notes. They might preach extempore as the archbishop of Canterbury sometimes does and there are questions of idiom and nuance which requires a high level of skill in translation of course. It is a high bar. It is a skilled art and it is an expensive skill as well," he said.
According to Evangelical Focus, German-speaking churches are also worried.
The main pastor of Copenhagen's St. Petri church, Rajah Scheepers, articulated her sentiments to Domradio saying, "There is much concern."
"We do not only hold services on Sundays, but also baptisms, weddings and funerals, throughout the week. It is not realistic to expect that we simultaneously translate all these gatherings or that we translate them in advance," she added.
Roman Catholics are also against the proposal. Nordic Bishops Conference General Secretary Anna Mirijam Kaschne said that it would only endanger freedom of religion.
"All church congregations, free church congregations, Jewish congregations, everything we have here in Denmark - 40 different religious communities - will be placed under general suspicion by this law. Something is happening here which is undermining democracy," Kaschne told the Catholic News Service.
Thomas B. Mikkelsen, the Evangelical Alliance Denmark chairman, doubts the effectiveness of the proposed regulation.
"The law aims to protect our community from the growth of radical Islamism, but the law will probably not be effective in that regard. Radical groups tend to establish themselves on the margins, in a parallel society, and never apply for official recognition. I do not think a new law will affect them in any way," Mikkelsen said.
The proposed "Law on Sermon in Languages Other than Danish" is expected to be debated this month in the Danish Parliament.
Targeting imams who are preaching in Arabic, the Danish government said that the law aims "to create greater openness about the preaching of religious preachers in Denmark when they preach in languages other than Danish," the Church Militant wrote.
Denmark is home to 270,000 Muslims who go to 115 registered mosques, the report said.
