Cameron rebuts pope on speech offensive to religion

AFP
5 hours ago

Washington (AFP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron defended the right to speech that gives offense to others' religious beliefs, in a rebuttal to Pope Francis who said there should be limits.

In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation, Cameron said the West must show that its values, like free speech, are stronger than those of Islamist extremists pursuing a "poisonous death cult narrative."

"I think in a free society, there is a right to cause offense about someone's religion. I'm a Christian. If someone says something offensive about Jesus, I might find that offensive but in a free society I don't have a right to wreak my vengeance upon them," Cameron said.

"We have to accept that newspapers, magazines can publish things that are offensive to some as long as it's within the law," he said.

Cameron, who was interviewed after his meeting here Friday with US President Barack Obama, was responding to the pope's comments suggesting that religion should be off limits.

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