New Danish Church Minister is busier with Islam than with the Church
The new Danish Church Minister Morten Dahlin is criticised for having more interest in Islam than in the Church. Photo Facebook, Morten Dahlin
Northern Europe
Denmark has a new Church Minister. Morten Dahlin succeeds Louise Schack Elholm. However, he receives a lot of criticism.
Dahlin is known for his clear statements on “religious extremism”, Kristeligt Dagblad writes. Among other things, he has said that he will use his position as Church Minister to combat religious extremism and make sure that religions are allowed to be criticised.
With his statements, he mainly referred to Islam, Dahlin clarified on Thursday in an interview with Ritzau. He criticised the support for Jihad at pro-Palestinian demonstrations and the "social control in Muslim environments". In addition, he emphasised that he is "ready to strike harder if there are possibilities."
Ideological bandwagon
However, not everyone is happy with the new minister's course. Bishop Marianne Gaarden is afraid of the risk that Dahlin will "empty Christianity of spiritual content if the Church is used as a value-political battleground." Garden worries that the spiritual content of the Church will be forgotten if the Church "is hitched to an ideological bandwagon."
Other critics say that Dahlin's interest in religion is only expressed in his criticism of Islam, Dagen reports. They point out that the new Church Minister has advocated that non-Western migrants must "respect Danish values, such as women's rights."
Separation
Another point of critique is that Dahlin advocates a separation between Church and state. He has had this stance for several years already. However, last week, Dahlin promised that he would not change the position of the Church of Denmark, which is quite strongly linked to the state.
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