The Oslo-based Human Rights Service (HRS) has researched the scale, nature, and social and economic impact of immigration into Norway since 2001. Its recommendations have resulted in important policy changes and its website is widely read by Norwegians who are skeptical about Islam.
Now a book authored by its information officer, Hege Storhaug, Islam: Europe Invaded, America Warned, has turned out to be a massive bestseller, PJ Media reported.
The HRS is funded by the national government, and leftists have been complaining that its work contributes to “negative images of Islam”. This year, the proposed national budget for 2019 included generous handouts to far-leftists at the Anti-Racist Center, but recommended slashing the annual subsidy to HRS by half.
The planned cut eventually drew so much outrage from the Progress Party, that the budget was left untouched.
Even as HRS was fighting to keep its own minuscule government appropriation, it released a bombshell report on the massive increase in the number of mosques in Norway — and on the corresponding rise in the amount of taxpayer funds to keep the mosques open and running.
This year, the mosques received a total of 187 million kroner from the government.
Until January last year, the Church of Norway (DNK) was the nation’s official state church. Unless the parents had opted out, a Norwegian child was automatically registered as a member at birth. Thus the government covered the Church’s expenses based on its membership statistics.
Because church attendance has radically declined, the sum per worshiper has increased dramatically. In order to be “fair”, the Norwegian parliament now supports mosques at the same rate per registered member as the DNK.
Since official mosque membership has skyrocketed – one in eight residents of Oslo now belong to a mosque – the amount of taxpayer money handed over has “escalated at an alarming tempo”.
Secularism for Norwegians has clearly come at a price.