THOUGHT CRIME
As of 2008 the current administration had created more than 3,600 criminal offences since it came to office in 1997, almost one for every day in power, more legislation has been enacted this year. This avalanche of legislation has involved a relentless assault on civil liberties.
In the House of Lords recently the Government failed to pass yet another measure, in this case a measure designed to criminalise Homophobia. The minister thus thwarted lamented that ‘this sent out a message that it was OK to be intolerant.’ This statement tells you all you need to know about the present administration, a government that wants to criminalise intolerance!
Well the news is that intolerance, after a fashion, is OK, certainly currently not illegal. For myself I am intolerant of much, the list would be too long, some of the things on the list I guess would be considered less respectable than others. At present my greatest intolerance is religious bigotry in general and Islamicist ideology in particular.
Law within western culture has, since the enlightenment, increasingly concerned itself with actions rather than thoughts and beliefs. Believe what you will but do not seek to impose your beliefs on me, least of all with violence. Thus you might believe that Gay men are in league with the devil, that in the words of the current Pope it is ‘a moral evil.’ However if you act on your beliefs by abusing or assaulting people in the street you will be subject to the full force of the law. We thus already have enough law to deal with abuse and violence against gay men and women or against anyone else for that matter.
The giveaway phrase is ‘sending a message,’ which of course was the intent behind this proposed legislation. However this frivolous legislative confetti has behind it a very dark side indeed; it is the desire by the state to peer into and control every aspect of our lives.
In the House of Lords recently the Government failed to pass yet another measure, in this case a measure designed to criminalise Homophobia. The minister thus thwarted lamented that ‘this sent out a message that it was OK to be intolerant.’ This statement tells you all you need to know about the present administration, a government that wants to criminalise intolerance!
Well the news is that intolerance, after a fashion, is OK, certainly currently not illegal. For myself I am intolerant of much, the list would be too long, some of the things on the list I guess would be considered less respectable than others. At present my greatest intolerance is religious bigotry in general and Islamicist ideology in particular.
Law within western culture has, since the enlightenment, increasingly concerned itself with actions rather than thoughts and beliefs. Believe what you will but do not seek to impose your beliefs on me, least of all with violence. Thus you might believe that Gay men are in league with the devil, that in the words of the current Pope it is ‘a moral evil.’ However if you act on your beliefs by abusing or assaulting people in the street you will be subject to the full force of the law. We thus already have enough law to deal with abuse and violence against gay men and women or against anyone else for that matter.
The giveaway phrase is ‘sending a message,’ which of course was the intent behind this proposed legislation. However this frivolous legislative confetti has behind it a very dark side indeed; it is the desire by the state to peer into and control every aspect of our lives.
