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| Britain |
| New religious hate laws planned |
| 2004-07-07 |
| Inciting religious hatred will become a crime under plans due to be unveiled by Home Secretary David Blunkett. The government tried to get the offence passed by Parliament in the wake of the US terror attacks in 2001 but was forced to drop the plans. In a speech in London, Mr Blunkett is set to revive the proposals. Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today he insisted that the legislation would not curb people’s right to express their view of other people’s religions. "The issue is not whether you have an argument or discussion or whether you are criticising someone’s religion. It’s whether you incite hatred on the basis of it," he said. There is already an offence of inciting racial hatred but this does not offer protection if someone is being targeted because of their religion...The government is worried in particular about discrimination against Muslims...He[Blunkett] is keen to stress that the government does not want to create a single common culture but instead values Britain’s diversity. ...Comedians such as Rowan Atkinson raised fears the law change could have outlawed jokes about religion. The Blackadder star suggested Monty Python’s Life of Brian would not have been made if the law had been in force. At the time, Mr Blunkett said much of the criticism of the plans had been "nonsense", adding that jokes would not fall foul of the proposed measures. Last month, the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia think tank warned that persistent and untackled Islamophobia in the UK could lead to "time-bombs" of backlash and bitterness. Sheesh...coming to our neighborhood soon? I suspect both skerry and GWB would like this "harmless" legislation to protect the religion of peace from "extremists"...Alice through the Looking Glass... |
| Posted by:rex |
| #4 This is ridiculous...it will only be used as a way to get people to shut-up about the truth of radical Islam being founded in the Quran and Muhammed's example. If people feel like they cannot even talk about Islam w/o being thrown in jail or fined, and they feel radical Islam is gaining ground in their country, they will inevitably turn to underground groups. Groups will form that will be against Islam, underground and radical, and will be against the government too. This is a recipe for disaster. |
| Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-07-07 11:10:13 AM |
| #3 lead to "time-bombs" of backlash and bitterness. You're right, Jules, very broad definition and ill defined. It'd never pass muster in the States. What I found amusing is the attitude of the Beeb--the "time-bombs" are only the fault of the Anglos, and it'll only be the Anglo's fault if they get killed by these "time-bombs" they've created by not being nice. |
| Posted by: therien 2004-07-07 11:08:42 AM |
| #2 Note that no one has defined for us what qualifies as inciting religious hatred. Who determines when expressing your view of another's religion trespasses into inciting hatred? Maybe it's like pornography-you know it when you see it?If courts get too zealous about this, we'll never see Islam be challenged to change into the "moderate" religion we CAN tolerate. How will this not insulate Islam from the legitimate criticism it so badly needs? |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-07-07 9:28:17 AM |
| #1 "Timebombs" is an appropriate word! |
| Posted by: JackAssFestival 2004-07-07 8:09:36 AM |