Religious extremism poses a threat to my liberty

After the BBC broadcast the controversial show "Jerry Springer: The Opera" in January, it was widely expected that the hard core of Christian fundamentalists behind the thousands of complaints received prior to broadcast, would attempt a legal assault on the BBC.

Today, they launched an attack on the BBC on two counts: firstly that the Corporation has failed the public by not 'upholding taste and decency' as it is charged to; and secondly that the BBC, as a public authority, has broken section 9 of the Human Rights Act.

The efforts against freedom of speech are being spearheaded by registered charity (cos that means a hell of a lot!!) The Christian Institute - a sort of catch-all bunch of meddlers and maniacs who are focused on (read obsessed by): sex, drugs, rock music, swearing, sex, 'religious liberties' (which means stopping people from criticising you - actually, they support this), sex, 'Christianity and the constitution', sex etc etc blah blah.

These people are obsessed with turning back the clock on all the social change that has occurred within the last 50 years. Unfortunately, as stick-in-the-mud seduces, they don't really know much about why society has changed, why it's a foolish enterprise to try to reverse the changes, and why our modern society can do fine without their moralistic preaching.

Under the guise of 'protecting freedom', some religious groups (though this doesn't include the Christian Institute) are attempting to make it a crime to question faith and the norms, values and laws of those who hold it. This will establish the precedent that religious groups can use legal action to prevent freedom of expression for others, if they claim that something offends their faith and or sensibilities. The idea, according to the UK government, is to give religious groups the same protection under law as racial groups.

But people are born with their race. They make a faith based choice when it comes to religion, and the difference between race and religion should always be remembered. The Home Office has stated that because Jews are protected by race laws, other religious groups deserve the same protection. The problem here is that Jews are protected by race laws because they are a race, and one which has suffered particularly at the hands of those who would oppress on racial grounds.

Religion and faith are not something you are born with, they are something you make a choice to apply yourself to, and something for which you are responsible. It follows that if you have strong faith in something, you shouldn't seek to prevent others from questioning your faith: you should embrace their discourse and try to show them why you believe what you do.

tombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music