{"id":1526004,"date":"2022-06-22T15:34:34","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T19:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1526004"},"modified":"2022-06-22T15:34:39","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T19:34:39","slug":"fact-check-did-iceland-declare-that-all-religions-were-mental-illnesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-did-iceland-declare-that-all-religions-were-mental-illnesses\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Did Iceland Declare That All Religions Were Mental Illnesses?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-did-iceland-declare-that-all-religions-were-mental-illnesses%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1526004&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>A post\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanjai.velayudhan\/posts\/pfbid06r4hna5F4vGyuft4UbsDAq23cnMU1eU5PygRXFmpTFUTjD8v6wpi6dAhM21SgkQ5l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanjai.velayudhan\/posts\/pfbid06r4hna5F4vGyuft4UbsDAq23cnMU1eU5PygRXFmpTFUTjD8v6wpi6dAhM21SgkQ5l&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1655902842283000&#038;usg=AOvVaw3MyjLk_DDlELKf45Am26fv\">shared on Facebook<\/a> claims the country of Iceland declared that religious faith was \u201cdelusional and harmful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: False<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The claim stems from a satirical article. A spokesperson for the country\u2019s Ministry of Affairs confirmed the claim was false<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Facebook image claims Iceland declared every religion, such as Christianity and Islam, a mental illness. \u201cIceland officially states religious faith is delusional and harmful,\u201d reads the post\u2019s caption. The subheadline states the country declared religions \u201cto be psychological disorders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStating the truth &#038; nothing but the truth,,\u201d the post\u2019s caption claims. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2021\/08\/20\/fact-check-military-times-headline-covid-vaccines-heart-disease\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Did The Military Times Publish This Headline About COVID-19 Vaccines?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This claim is not true. There are no press releases on the Icelandic government\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.government.is\/search\/%24LisasticSearch\/Search\/?SearchQuery=religion+harmful&#038;Ministries=&#038;Themes=&#038;ContentTypes=&#038;Year=&#038;SortByDate=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">website<\/a> or on their respective <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=religion%20(from%3A%40PresidentISL%20AND%20%40MFAIceland)&#038;src=typed_query\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">social<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile\/100064868850602\/search\/?q=religion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">media<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/katrinjakobsd\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">accounts<\/a> announcing such a policy. Likewise, there are no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=iceland+religions+mental+illness&#038;source=lnms&#038;tbm=nws&#038;sa=X&#038;ved=2ahUKEwiE_Nm2m7_4AhUTg4kEHRJwAnYQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&#038;biw=1440&#038;bih=821&#038;dpr=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news reports<\/a> suggesting the country\u2019s government is now classifying religion as a mental illness.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Iceland has an official church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, which is \u201csupported and protected by the State,\u201d according to the Iceland government\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.government.is\/topics\/religion-and-non-religious-convictions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">website<\/a>. The site also states that all citizens have \u201cthe option of declining membership of a formal religious organization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is false, there is no truth to this claim,\u201d \u00c1slaug Karen J\u00f3hannsd\u00f3ttir, a representative for Iceland\u2019s Ministry of Affairs, confirmed to Check Your Fact in an email.<\/p>\n<p>The claim appears to have originated from a January 2020 article published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/laughingindisbelief\/2020\/01\/iceland-declares-all-religions-are-mental-disorders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patheos<\/a>. The article was published on Patheos\u2019 \u201cLaughing in Belief\u201d blog, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/laughingindisbelief\/is-this-satire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">states<\/a> stories written on the block are satirical. \u201cThink of Laughing in Disbelief as The Onion on drugs. Like meth. Or bath salts,\u201d the website\u2019s description reads.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the first time a satirical article has been circulated on social media as a real report. Check Your Fact recently <a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2022\/06\/21\/fact-check-navy-jag-method-of-execution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">debunked<\/a> a claim suggesting the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps changed its method off execution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A post\u00a0shared on Facebook claims the country of Iceland declared that religious faith was \u201cdelusional and harmful.\u201dVerdict: FalseThe claim stems from a satirical article. A spokesperson for the country\u2019s Ministry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1526004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1526004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1526004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1526004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1526004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}