Leicester’s
need for civilised discourse on religion and belief
A criminal
prosecution was recently brought by Leicester’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
against a man who publicly demonstrated his opposition to religion by ripping
up a Koran in public and throwing it to the ground. The case ended with a hung
jury and a decision by the CPS not to pursue it further. The failure of the jury to reach a verdict reveals
a problem with the law.
Tearing up
a holy book is not an effective way to take issue with religion but the right
to free expression valued by jury members is so fundamental to our way of life
that it must be protected even when its exercise involves bad taste or insult.
Many
religions take it on themselves to seek to persuade people of other religions
or of no religion to convert. Dire
consequences of failing to believe in this or that god are often cited in these
attempts. Likewise, atheists sometimes
seek to expose the fallacies in religion, hoping to persuade people to give it up. They can all do this because what they are
seeking to change is a matter of personal conviction. With race, gender, sexual orientation or
disability the position is completely different. You cannot persuade someone to change these
characteristics.
The legislation
that rightly protects people in these categories from being harassed and abused
or put in fear of their life on account of their characteristics has been
developed over recent decades. But the
addition of protection on grounds of religion more recently has brought with it
a threat to the right of free speech because the police and the CPS have not
got clear in their minds the qualitative difference involved. It is because of this that a broad coalition,
including religious opinion, is currently trying to get Parliament to remove the
word “insulting” from Section 5 of the Public Order Act as it has been used by
the police in several instances to silence critics of one or other persuasion.
There is no
special protection from insult or abuse on matters like politics,
vegetarianism, astrology, homeopathy, and so on, beyond that which ordinary
citizens expect purely in virtue of being a citizen. The same should apply to religious belief and
non-belief.
Leicester
Secular Society is a “Freethought” organisation dedicated to the idea that the
best way to change people’s convictions is through the rational debate of
available evidence. People in Leicester
who wish to show their disagreement with others’ beliefs should normally do so
in a calm and reasoned way, showing respect for persons even when condemning or
lampooning their ideas or station. This
is common courtesy and politeness, after all, and exemplifies the kind of city
and country that most of us would like our children and grandchildren to
inherit from us.
But by the
same token, those whose beliefs are challenged, even when done discourteously,
would be best advised to ‘turn the other cheek’ rather than calling for
prosecutions.
Harry Perry
President
of Leicester Secular Society
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