Roberto questions contrasting reactions to Muslim leader’s lecture

Roberto Luigi Pagani, a doctoral graduate in Icelandic grammar, has questioned what he sees as a disparity in the response to a lecture by Muslim religious leader Muhammad Taqi Usmani and earlier remarks by a Catholic priest, mbl.is reported Wednesday.

Usmani, who has supported the Taliban and opposed gay rights, lectured for the Muslim Institute in Iceland last week. Pagani said he was waiting to hear criticism comparable to that directed at Catholic priest Jakob Rolland, who said in an interview that the Catholic Church would help gay people if they wanted to live in a way that did not accord with their sexual orientation.

In a Facebook post, Pagani recalled comments made in parliament on March 4 by Social Democratic Alliance MP Sigmundur Ernir Rúnarsson. Rúnarsson said the Catholic Church in Iceland was “putting itself outside the law” with remarks he called “the worst reactionary views we have heard this year”. He also questioned what the church’s position meant for people who wanted to live in a liberal, democratic society that believed in human rights.

Pagani said Usmani had criticised the decriminalisation of same-sex sexual relations and defended the death penalty for apostasy. He also noted that Rolland’s comments were investigated by police and said it would be interesting to see whether police considered investigating Usmani’s case.

Pagani said he would have welcomed Ása Berglind Hjálmarsdóttir pointing out at the time that Catholics did not all share Rolland’s views, as she had done more quickly when Muslims were involved. He said he saw little equality in the coverage of the two cases or in how they had been handled.

mbl.is said it had been unable to reach representatives of Samtökin ’78, Iceland’s LGBTQ rights organisation, for comment on Usmani’s lecture at the country’s largest Muslim religious association. It had also been unable to reach Rúnarsson.