In defence of the fundamental values of society: an analysis of blasphemy trials and debates in Sweden around 1900

Critique of religion and its consequences is a topical theme. The attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in January 2015 made the Western media establishment to rally in defence of freedom of expression, but it also raised the question of the limits of this freedom. There are always defined limits to freedom of expression, which change over time and are adapted to the political system that prevails. Ideas that in various ways question or threaten the current value system are not accepted. In Western society, racism is an example of such an illicit opinion, while blasphemy and criticism of the state-sanctioned religion took the same position in pre- and early modern society community – and in today’s Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia and Iran.
In my paper, I discuss the blasphemy phenomenon and its changing meaning and position in Sweden around the turn of the century 1900 in a European perspective.