The Racial and Religious Hatred Act comes into force in the UK today. Fortunately, however, it was somewhat watered down as it went through its various legislative stages, thanks to some campaigning, notably by the rubber-faced comedian and Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson.
From today, it’ll be illegal to stir up religious hatred against people, intentionally, on religious grounds.
The new legislation doesn’t outlaw “expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions”. Amen to that, then. Let’s be thankful for small mercies, since it would be unworkable and downright silly to try to outlaw these things, much as the Muslim community would like to, judging by the childish antics of some of its number if someone doodles a few lines on a piece of paper and it gets published.
There’s a good piece on the Ekklesia website, with a link to a short paper it produced on this legislation.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
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