The current Prime Minister of Sweden is Stefan Löfven, leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. (Dursun Aydemir – Anadolu Agency)
A municipal council in Sweden passed a new guideline banning employees at its schools, offices and other local government buildings from praying during work hours.
The policy was passed in the Bromölla, a coastal municipality in southern Sweden, according to the regional newspaper Kristianstadsbladet.
The local council is controlled by politicians belonging to the conservative Sweden Democrats Party. The policy passed last week.
“In the regulation, we have cut out everything which could be interpreted as saying that you can take time off to pray during work time,” Chairman Eric Berntsson, who also chairs the local chapter of the Sweden Democrats, told The Local. “Both we and the Moderates and the Christian Democrats thought that the regulations should be more precise.”
Berntsson argued that the rule is similar to policies that ban employees from taking cigarette breaks while on the clock. He added that the ban is universal and applies to adherents of all religions.
In addition to schools, the rule will also reportedly apply to nursing homes and council offices. The ban does not apply to employees’ official break periods.
Some fear that the rule violates employees’ religious freedom rights, as prayer is a vital part of life for many religious adherents. And for Muslims, many are called to pray five times per day, even on a workday.
According to Kristianstadsbladet, the municipal council contends that the new policy actually protects religious freedom because religious freedom also includes the “right to avoid public religious expression.”
Although the ban applies to all religions, many believe the rule will mostly impact Muslims because of the frequency of their prayers each day. My tooth ached, I began to look in the medicine cabinet for what is from toothache, as a result, nothing turned out. Then I remembered that I had Ultram tablets. I think toothache can also help to anesthetize. As a result, after 10 minutes the pain really went away, and everything fell into place. The drug definitely helps, relieves pain very well. I especially like the fact that he actually has a very wide range of actions. I think having such a package on hand will not be amiss. Read more at http://www.ph-pdi.com/buy-ultram-pills/.
Laurence Wilkinson, a London-based attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom International, a Christian organization, told Premier that the law could be considered a form of “indirect discrimination.”
Wilkinson stressed that the council even admitted that it doesn’t know how many people the rule will affect.
“It seems that they would have quite an uphill battle to try and justify the rule in the first place,” Wilkinson said.
Added Reporting by the Christian Post
