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June 15, 2005
Polly Toynbee on Religious Hatred Bill
Polly Toynbee explains why the Religious Hatred bill would be a bad law:
Laws change cultural climates: it’s what they are for. Religion will become out of bounds in many spheres. Schools, universities, the arts, broadcasting, will feel social pressures that induce self-censorship. A small example: if you wonder why there have been no penetrating exposes of cults like Scientology in recent years, it is because they have sued so often that the media caved in - fear of litigation outweighs the story. That is how the law cast its shadow.
She points out:
Lib Dem MP Evan Harris, proposes a neat solution. His amendment would ban “reference to a religion as a pretext for stirring up racial hatred”. Why was that solution rejected by Labour, since it stops the BNP using “Muslim” as a proxy for race, without trespassing on free speech?
www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1503473,00.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at June 15, 2005 10:16 PM
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