Is it just in America where we hold freedoms of speech and religion as sacred? It sounds like many of the European posters in this thread agree with this, while I know of many Americans, from far-right to far-left, that would see this as violating freedoms of religion.
Yup. I'll say that in general Americans have a more "laissez faire" approach to freedom of religion and freedom of speech while most European countries have more restrictive approaches. Whether that's a good or a bad thing though I don't know.
I will say that for my country (Spain), freedom of speech is almost certainly too restricted (tons of people have been unfairly sent to jail). But I will say we are doing ok in freedom of religion.
If my country were say throwing journalists in prison, I would not say we are doing ok in freedom of the press... Why do you say Spain is doing ok in freedom of speech? Am I missing something?