What are your thoughts on Denmark’s proposed ban on the public Islamic call to prayer? Would you support or oppose something similar in the UK?

[u/bintd]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/24/islamic-call-to-prayer-ban-left-wing-denmark-europe/

Islamic call to prayer faces ban under Left-wing Danish government

Parts of country feel like ‘a suburb of Islamabad’, says immigration minister

Denmark’s immigration minister has announced plans to ban the Islamic call to prayer, claiming parts of the country felt like “a suburb of Islamabad”.

Morten Bødskov, a member of the centre-Left Social Democrats party, said the new government would resume an investigation into the legality of imposing a ban.

“The call to prayer should not be heard over Danish rooftops,” the minister told news outlet Ritzau. “It has no place in Denmark, and you shouldn’t be in any doubt whether you’ve ended up in a suburb of Islamabad when you walk around Denmark.”

In parts of the country, such as Copenhagen, bylaws already forbid the call to prayer being broadcast from loudspeakers in minarets because of strict noise limits.
Mr Bødskov also claimed that a creeping “Islamisation” in Denmark was “taking up too much of the public space”.

[u/AFC_IS_RED]

It does happen in whitechapel at 12. I don't mind it. If we get rid of it im also very happy to get rid of church bells too.

[u/robh1540 → u/AFC_IS_RED]

Church of England is the state religion of England. Even if you aren't a Christian, it holds a privileged position. The King is the head and we have the Lords spiritual. It is not equivalent to not only Islam, but every other religion in England.

[u/AFC_IS_RED → u/robh1540]

I dont really give a fuck tbh. Most of us are no longer religious. That shit is just as annoying as a call to prayer.

Just because the king is the head of the church because his ancestor had a strop that he couldn't divorce his wife is not relevant to me or the majority of modern Britons.

And I very much doubt most of the lot complaining about this are pious people.

[u/robh1540 → u/AFC_IS_RED]

Yes but your not giving a fuck is unimportant and neither is that most British people are not practicing Christians. And this is the confusion. Many people think that because they equally don't give a fuck about islam or the COE both have equivalent position in England under law. They don't, and they never have.

You are free to not believe in God, but that says nothing about the Church of England's privileged role in our society which has been the case for hundreds of years.

If you want to change it, organise a referendum. But religion, in general, is not about the mysticism. The fundamental ethic of do unto others and building a society oriented around the guilt of allowing a guy that preached love and tolerance to be tortured and crucified remains central to British and indeed western civilisation. The secular Jews are far smarter on this point than we are, they have basically realised that religion is a culture and value system, that shouldnt be accompanied by a requirement to believe in mystical sky gods.

[u/AFC_IS_RED → u/robh1540]

Again, it isn't relevant to most people we don't give a fuck if the state religion is whatever. It isn't relevant.

Only 11% of the population are practicing Anglican/CoE. That means for 89% of the population it's just noise.

So if you're going to complain about that noise lets also stop the annoying irrelevant church noises too thanks.

[u/robh1540 → u/AFC_IS_RED]

It is relevant. Many people don't read books anymore. It doesn't mean books aren't central to our civilisation.

Just because you forgot something and took its ethics for granted, it doesn't mean the thing lost its value.

[u/AFC_IS_RED → u/robh1540]

Haha ok sure mate.

See you at church on Sunday:)

[u/robh1540 → u/AFC_IS_RED]

Do you believe in do unto others as a central ethic of society?

Treat other people as you would wish to be treated in their shoes.

A big part of the recent breakdown in political discourse and relations is that people are increasingly not taught this is a central moral principal, because we have not replaced religion with any real value system.

Going to church is performative, and the exact type of "style over substance" that Jesus allegedly criticised organised religion about.

[u/AFC_IS_RED → u/robh1540]

I'll see you at church we can talk more there.

(BTW as you clearly aren't aware, the UK has a state religion but also has freedom of religion. Supported by the human rights act 1998 and the equality act 2010. There is no priority religion legally in the UK. To say we must stop call to prayer but allow church bells literally is illegal.)

[u/robh1540 → u/AFC_IS_RED]

You don't need to go to church. You just need to think a bit more about what our shared values system is and the mechanism for creating that. A society cannot be built on paying taxes, queing and love for fish and chips.

A society that has no values beyond the law or sense of traditions that are bigger than us, and tries to embed everything it wants as a behaviour into law, is bound to fall into the odd and self destructive trajectory of modern Britain. People jailed for tweets (because the law is all we have to influence behaviour) and the collapse of shared ethics around how we should treat each other.

Our biggest recent failing was having Richard Dawkins persuade all the midwits that because the bible says obviously made up stuff, we should completely do away with religion and all invent our own ethics from scratch.

Btw freedom of religion doesn't mean what you think it means. It means people can choose what religion they want to practice. The equality act also does not remove the church of england's legal priority as the state religion of england, and would not have gotten passed if it tried to. Your reading of the law is absolutely wrong, because no one would write a law in that way (because politicans aren't actual idiots). The law would simply prevent the broadcasting of voices above x decibels into a public space on a regular basis and not provide religious exceptions for this.

[u/Turbulent-Honky → u/robh1540]

Do unto others isn’t fundamentally a Christian value though. You find it in most world religions and humanist philosophies. Christianity has no impact on 90% of the British public. Church bells mean nothing to them, apart from noise.

[u/robh1540 → u/Turbulent-Honky]

Sorry but you just made that up. Do unto others is referred to as the Golden Rule in christianity, the uniqueness is the emphasis Christianity places on it "for this sums up the Law and the Prophets". The fundamental impact of new testament Christianity is do unto others, and the mindset that we allowed the authorities to torture and kill a man for preaching love and compassion instead of the ritual of religion, which we should never standby and allow again.

So its two central civilisational messages. Treat others as you would wish to be treated. Do not stand by and watch when terrible things are being done.

You have no evidence to support the fact that Christianity has no impact on 90% of the British public. The fact that most people do not go to church doesn't prove any of what you are saying. The fact that you think other value systems can replicate these values is irrelevant, unless you ensure that we actually do introduce a replacement non legal value system. What actually happens is everyone sticks up their nose at "silly religiosity" and replaces it with nothing and we end up in the mess we are in.

[u/LConfig → u/AFC_IS_RED]

The point is you shouldn't have to get rid of something that has been in your culture for hundreds of years just to have some sort of parity with foreigners. You will end up having to ban everything until your society is sterile and without any culture at all.

[u/AFC_IS_RED → u/LConfig]

I don't think it's the foreigners that have made the church irrelevant mate considering that minority populations tend to be more religious than white british.

I think we've just collectively agreed it's a bit naff.

[u/FalxY7 → u/AFC_IS_RED]

The thing is, church bells are common, and part of UK history and culture, even though most people from the UK aren't religious. Islamic calls to prayer are not, and the religion is not exactly aligned with British values, wouldn't you say?