European Public Order/Public Dignity Laws

Two problematic laws, one in England, one in France.

First, Religion Clause blog discusses a situation in Lancashire, in which the police told the owner of a private business, the Salt and Light Coffee House, that the display of various Bible verses on a TV screen at the back of his cafe violates an ordinance which prohibits, among other things, "distress[ing]" or "alarm[ing]" displays.

Second, Paris has enacted a law which prohibits prayer in the streets.  As detailed here, it seems that the issue is not so much the general obstruction that any unregulated public gathering would pose, but the specifically objectionable act of public religious expression as such, which, according to the report, "hurts the sensitivities of many of our fellow citizens" and is undignified.