No, Iceland didn’t call religions ‘mental disorders’

Most residents of Iceland are members of the Lutheran State Church, and would perhaps not respond favorably to news that the country declared religions mental disorders. 

But that’s what a recent Facebook post claimed. 

"Iceland declares all religions are mental disorders," read a screenshot of what looks like a Jan. 21, 2020, headline. 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) As we were reporting this check, the post’s settings appeared to be changed, making the post private. We found others like it.

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stated on October 27, 2024 in an Instagram post

Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz “says that if Democrats win they’ll make (U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) speaker of the house.”

We found the website where the story originated, and though it’s no longer on the site, an archived version of the story shows it was labeled as satire.

Under the header "Laughing in Disbelief: Liberté, Egalité, Absurdité," author Andrew Hall described stories on his blog as satirical. 

"Under normal circumstances, my humble blog is similar to The Onion," Hall wrote. "As many of you know, The Onion publishes satirical stories poking fun at everyday problems everyday people face as well as pointing out the hypocrisy of the rich and powerful. Think of Laughing in Disbelief as The Onion on drugs. Like meth. Or bath salts." 

We rate claims that Iceland really declared religions as mental disorders False.