Blasphemy Laws

Which community? Certainly not mine, or most other ones I can think of, other than highly sensitive Muslim men who spend most of their time shrieking outside schools because someone started a rumour that a child scuffed a Koran.

Mike drop 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

One of the invited guests on Anti-social was an ex-muslim and he was furious about what happened with that boy and his mum. He said it was like a Sharia court.

@Dontrowlmyflavour

Ime people desperate to ‘criticise’ religions (which almost exclusively seems to be Islam) are actually seeking to stir up hatred and division, which is not conducive to a multicultural society.

For me this MP’s proposal would strengthen community cohesion and prevent the far-right using criticism of Islam as a smokescreen to spew hatred.

Why? I think organised religion is a load of man made bollocks. If they can tell me there’s a God - I can refute it in any way I like? if I want to write an accurate book on the history of Islam and include illustrations why shouldn’t I? Why do I have to tread on egg shells round something that I think is terrible? Why can’t I point out that the Bible is a defilement of true Christianity? The religious views represent their views not mine. Why are their views more important than mine?

Faith is an individuals belief, if they want to interrupt my lunch hour standing in the street cranking out music and shouting some utter twaddle then I have every right to tell them what I think too.

what if I force a copy of the satanic Bible into their hands? Are they supposed to treat it with reverence?

Nonsense. Religions are all invented and do not merit protection. We already have strong laws against hate speech and that's enough. The scrapped free speech law was never needed and was a political tool intended to stop organisations from choosing not to host certain groups, groups such as Holocaust deniers - other venues have always been available.

The law is fine. Islam deserves no more and no less protection than other faiths.

What do you mean by this. It sounds like you are saying a religious view is free from criticism? Where do you draw the line?

The fact is we are now a multi-cultural society and it is right that different religious views are protected from abuse and desecration. Too many people use ‘free speech’ as an excuse to be Islamophobic.

I don’t see the issue with requiring people to be respectful and understanding of others. I think it’s perfectly reasonable that those who defile the Quran or its contents (or any other religious text) are held to account in order to prevent community tensions.

There's rape justified in the Bible. And slavery.

The only religion I ever hear blasphemed is Christianity.

JFC on a regular basis, Imagine saying that about Mo.

We have become a nation of separate communities who only do things for themselves but take from us. What's mine is mine, but what's yours is mine also.

Not especially Muslims but numerous others.

I'm not surprised this is on the table, it's not that differernt in many ways from the way people are now thinking about hate crimes - many political progressives seem to think that saying things they really don't like about certain groups is a hate crimes - a kind of secular blasphemy.

I am not a huge fan of blasphemy, personally, I think it's often just rudeness. But - it must not be against the law.

It’s never a good idea at the time.

Money should be spent on protecting people from, you know, actual violence.

very little of that protection around these days.

Absolutely zero faith in Starmer on this one. The man is a danger to the nation.

I agree. I despair of how lazy and complacent our politicians and police have become. Our secular democracy, with its respect for human rights, is well worth defending.

Labour's typical ill-considered, good-idea-at-the-time law making again.

The intention of such laws is as a shield to protect people. Unfortunately, they get used as a weapon to curtail free speech. That's a foreseeable consequence.

The government's efforts would be better spent ensuring the right to free speech, even if that offends some people.

It was Labour that got rid of the blasphemy laws in England and Wales in 2006 but don’t let facts get in the way of your prejudice. The SNP finally got rid of them in Scotland this year but NI still has them.

Oh and it was two. Imran Hussain (Bradford East?) asked the same question earlier asking that the PM

Condemn those in public office and positions of power who actively promote Islamophobia?
Commit to adopting a definition of Islamophobia today?
Outline the concrete steps the Government is taking to rip out Islamophobia at its roots, including in this place?