Three quarters of the French think it’s wrong to ridicule religions, their founders, their believers and their representatives. That’s the finding of an opinion poll published on www.pelerin.info, the website of the Christian weekly of the same name, which conducted the survey, posing to the interviewees (a sample of 1000 people over the age of 18) the following questions: "Is it acceptable publicly to ridicule religions? Is it acceptable openly to criticise them? Is it right for religious representatives to go to court to obtain justice from those who criticise them?". The findings show that between 76% and 78% of the French are contrary to joking about religions, their representatives and founders. This is an interesting finding, comments the website, "in a secular and ‘Voltairian’ France". Even more interesting is the figure for those who contest the freedom to criticise religions in public: between 51% and 62%, especially if such criticism be directed against the teachings of the faiths. More nuanced are the positions of the French on the possibility of having recourse to the courts to seek justice for the criticisms received. 48%, in fact, say they are contrary to this, as if to say that the judicial system ought not to be burdened with these problems. Commenting on the data, Bishop Jean-Michel Falco Leandri of Gap, chairman of the Committee of French bishops for communications, said they are "astonishing. Everything may be criticised, but criticism must be measured and intelligent and provide scope for conscientious objection. Otherwise criticism is deadly. Criticism is not derision".
