Poland bestows honor on controversial British philosopher

Poland’s president bestowed a prestigious state honor Tuesday on a conservative English philosopher who has stirred controversy at home with comments about homosexuality, Islamophobia and Jews.

President Andrzej Duda presented Roger Scruton with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.

The British government fired Scruton as head of a public housing body in April after he reportedly said that homosexuality is “not normal,” called Islamophobia a “propaganda word” and saying Hungarian Jews were part of an “empire” run by billionaire George Soros.

Duda said Scruton was recognized for supporting the democratic transformation in Poland. The ceremony came as Poland celebrated the 30th anniversary of the first partly free elections in Poland after decades of communist rule.

Scruton has also reportedly said that the Chinese government was “creating robots out of their own people,” and said date rape is not a crime.

At the time of his dismissal, a British government spokeswoman called Scruton’s comments “deeply offensive and completely unacceptable” and said they were distracting from his work as a government adviser. Dawn Butler, from the opposition Labour party, said he was invoking the “language of white supremacists.”

Scruton has said in the past that his words have been twisted and has denied being anti-Semitic or Islamophobic.