U.K.: Grovel Before Anyone Who's Religious

Free speech is not enjoying a banner year in the U.K., either.

I was half-mystified, half-amused when broadcast regulators there banned a car commercial in which a woman fired a starting pistol into the air. (The censors thought the ad contributed to "the glamorization and normalization" of guns.)

But a banned ad is nothing compared to what Home Secretary David Blunkett is cooking up. Mr. Blunkett wants to make a criminal of anyone who insults anyone else “if he intends thereby to stir up religious hatred," his proposed law says. To the last man and woman, the Brits will have to watch what they say and do from now on, as the new legislation criminalizes both words and "behavior." TV and radio makers may want to be extra careful; they could soon be prosecuted for “distributing, showing or playing a recording” that offends the religiosity of a viewer or listener. The same goes for theater makers, if "the performance is likely to be attended by any person in whom the performance (taken as a whole) is likely to stir up religious hatred.” (Apparently, theatergoers will have to be pre-screened from now on, so as to cull particularly excitable patrons.)

You can read more about the legislation in this piece in the Times of London.

Of course, Mr. Blunkett's proposed law, far from promoting tolerance, is a reward for intolerance. That's because, if the measure passes, any thin-skinned religious person will have the full force of the government on his or her side. From now on, the level of religious discourse will be set by those whose feelings are the most easily hurt. (I predict there'll be no shortage of 'victims' seeking to qualify.)

In sum total, here's the deal. Do you gnash your teeth when so-called Christians wave signs that say "God Hates Fags"? Do you hate the brainwashing that Scientologists and other sects engage in? Are you pissed off when Islamic radicals agitate for the destruction of Western civilization? Well, if you're British, keep it to yourself. Shut your gob. Mr. Blunkett isn't asking you, he is telling you.