More on Norwegian only

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Norwegian only

The Progress Party have launched another controversial idea, taking the
desire to have better Norwegian skills for imams in Norway and instead
proposing that all religious services in the country must be conducted in
Norwegian.

Related story: Compulsory Norwegian course for imams - 24.11.2004

Progress Party politician Per-Willy Amundsen emphasizes that though the
debate about better integrated imams inspired the idea, the new proposal
is for all faiths. Amundsen is the immigration policy spokesman for what
is currently Norway's most popular political party, and leads his party's
immigration policy committee. "We are considering a requirement that
religious communities that receive state support conduct their services in
Norwegian," Amundsen said.  Amundsen admitted that much of the motivation
behind the proposal was due to "the attitudes to be found in mosques", but
that it should apply to all.

After being asked what would happen to the Swedish Church in Oslo,
Amundsen said a possible solution would be to hold services in a language
that the majority of the nation understood, so Swedish and English would
be acceptable as well. Amundsen said exceptions could be made when
congregations had foreign visitors, and did not see the proposal as
coercive, saying that faiths had the option of giving up their state
financial support.

Political reactions

Reactions were largely negative, though Conservative Party politician Kari
Lise Holmberg said she understood the attraction of having services in
Norwegian, but felt the suggestion was problematic due to freedom of
expression. "We demand that imams learn Norwegian and social customs, that
is fundamental," Holmberg said. Labor politician Arild Stokkan-Grande said
that while it was important to stress that one should speak Norwegian in
Norway, the invasion of religious services was not desirable. Socialist
Left politician Rolf Reikvam rejected the suggestion. "We want to see the
service held in the language that the religious community understands,"
Reikvam said.

Religious leaders react

Basim Ghozlan of the Islamic Association in Oslo said that such a measure
would leave many of those attending services in mosques unable to
understand what was being said, and he foresees a gradual and natural
shift to Norwegian over time. "The next generation will increasingly use
the Norwegian language as their first, and Norwegian is already used in
conversations and documents today," Ghozlan said. Anne Sender of the
Mosaic Religious Community in Oslo said that rabbis used Norwegian in
services today but that it was impossible to change the language of
rituals and reading of holy scripture.

"It cannot be the task of the state to decide how we practice our faith,
and I think this suggestion by the Progress Party is silly. There are
other ways to solve integration and communication problems," Sender said.
The Oslo Catholic Diocese said it was important to hold services in
several languages, according to those attending, information chief Stian
Erdal said. Erdal called the proposal a "completely unacceptable" attempt
to intervene in the practice of religion. "This would especially affect
the Jews and Muslims who have many of their holy scriptures in Hebrew and
Arabic. I hope and expect that this will not be carried through," Erdal
said.

This is an article from www.aftenposten.no. Updated: 14. desember 2006
kl.13:21

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1570279.ece

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