Fact Check: Chill. Iceland hasn't declared religions as weapons of mass destruction

Did Iceland declare that all religions are weapons of mass destruction? Some social media users are applauding what they claim to be a historic and groundbreaking decision by Iceland. Netizens are also praising the country's parliament for voting to classify "all religions as weapons of mass destruction".

Facebook user Rajiv Tyagi is among many others who shared the article captioned: "By and by, more nations will see the light... The last to see the light will be the jaahil followers of Islam and Hinduism..."

The Parliament of Iceland has voted to declare all religions as WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism are now in the same category as nuclear weapons.

Now I can seriously think of migrating. The madness here is exasperating.
Hygienus Nwagwu (@hymanprof) March 8, 2019

India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found this claim to be wrong. The story is a satire that social media users have mistaken for real news.

Tyagi claims to be a former fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force and has around 67,000 people followers on Facebook.

The post was circulated on other social media platforms too.

Should we declare religion as weapon of mass destruction in Nigeria too? https://t.co/vc1rXpue2l Akufai Jonah (@AkufaiJonah) March 9, 2019

All of them have quoted and shared an article posted by website patheos.com.

The introductory paragraph of the article says, "Iceland's parliament voted to classify all religions as weapons of mass destruction. Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism are now in the same category as nuclear weapons, mustard gas, and weaponized biological agents."

In the first line itself, the word 'voted' is hyperlinked. When you click on it, another page opens which clearly states that the story is a satire.

Despite an extensive search, we couldn't find any such news report in mainstream media.