Britain to ban criticism of religion

[John Dibble]

Incitement to religious hatred should be a criminal offence

Please, elaborate what 'religious hatred' is to you, and the minimum of what it takes to be considered inciting it.

[John Dibble]

I take religious hatred as being rhetoric, intentionally designed to whip up prejudice and violence by one faith's adherents against another

I feel that inciting prejudice should be legal. I believe that inciting violence is already illegal under the common law, and should remain so.

Shouldn't your first statement read "illegal"?

Dave

I'm in agreeance with Emsworth. Making prejudice illegal is thought policing.

[John Dibble]

"the offences will not encompass material that just stirs up ridicule or prejudice or causes offence. Further, what must be stirred up is hatred of a group of persons defined by their religious beliefs and not hatred of the religion itself."

Even stirring up "hatred" should be legal, as one does not have an inherent right to be free of hate.

[John Dibble]

Denmark has had this kind of legislation since 1936 and it has only been used rarely. I don't really think that there is any danger that anybody will be limited in their freedom of speech, but then again I also think that freedom of speech is the right to speak out our opinion not to try to cause hatred towards other people

And if it's a person's opinion that someone else should be hated it's not freedom of speech anymore?

[John Dibble]

Denmark has had this kind of legislation since 1936 and it has only been used rarely. I don't really think that there is any danger that anybody will be limited in their freedom of speech, but then again I also think that freedom of speech is the right to speak out our opinion not to try to cause hatred towards other people

And if it's a person's opinion that someone else should be hated it's not freedom of speech anymore?

One on one, fine by me. I'm talking about misuse of the freedom of speech by promoting hatred toward groups of people by making generalising accusations with no real foundation.
There is a fine line between saying that someone is the stupidest bastard on the world and claiming that because someone belongs to a certain group of people they automatically is going to boil babies and eat them with onions and celery.

Unless you can prove tangible harm done, then there's no reason to ban it.