عنوان

Blood on a Mosque:

LA116620

انگلیسی

Blood on a Mosque:

[Article]

Religion, the Sacred, and the Finnish Criminal Court Process

Tuomas Äystö

Leiden

Brill

This article analyzes a Finnish criminal court process concerning a spattering of blood on a mosque. Initially ruled as a religious insult, the charge was eventually dropped on the grounds that the Islamic community in question did not have the proper legal personality. The article utilizes a non-normative discursive perspective to analyze the construction of 'sacredness' and the category of 'religion' in the legal process. First, it is argued that several officials were influenced by the prevailing discourses on religion and blood, as well as the meaning of 'sacred,' to the point where they contradicted the prevalent legalistic discourse. Second, the legalistic discourse observed in the final ruling demonstrates how the prohibition of religious insult is part of the Finnish association-oriented model for managing a society perceived as religiously diverse.

2017

274-300

Journal of Religion in Europe

10/3

1874-8929

criminal law

Finland

History of Religion

Islam

religion & Society

religious diversity

religious insult

Religious Studies

sacred

Social Sciences

Tuomas Äystö

10.1163/18748929-01003002

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y