The Home Secretary recently announced that he was to bring in legislation
that will outlaw religious hatred in the UK.
It will become a crime to discriminate against someone because of his or
her religion in the same way, as it is already an offence to discriminate on
the basis of race. In many cases the two are either side of the same coin.
An example of racial and religious discrimination came with the recent
publication of the stop and search figures. Many Asians living in the UK
happen to be Muslims. The stop and search figures showed a 302 per cent
increase in the number of Asians being targeted. It would no doubt be
difficult to tell whether the stop and search was made because the person
was an Asian or a Muslim – the two have become synonymous in the collective
minds of the police and intelligence services. The Muslims are now clearly
being targeted in the way that the Irish were before them. They are being
seen as a suspect community.
Since 9/11 Muslim people have been labelled by the establishment as public
enemy number one, perceived as a threat because of their religion and way of
life. The peaceful nature of the Muslim religion and those who follow it is
usually lost in a general sea of ignorance wound up with Osama Bin Laden and
the mythology surrounding 9/11.
Clearly, Muslims need protection to be allowed to peacefully practice their
religion. This protection will be not only from attacks by individuals but
also institutions of government like the police and intelligence services
who deliberately target such groups purely on the basis of their religion.
No doubt Mr Blunkett intends to make institutions as much the subject of the
anti-religious hatred legislation as individuals.
Further evidence of the need for a law against religious hatred comes with
the activities at Lewes in east Sussex where every year an effigy of the
Pope is burnt. At first sight the ritual could appear harmless enough but
some in the area certainly find the anti - Catholic atmosphere that engulfs
the town as thousands flock in each November most intimidating. Second
generation Irishman Joe O’Keefe has been campaigning since last November to
get the anti-Catholic elements of the ceremony banned. He has no problem
with the bonfires but objects to the blatant and open show of religious
bigotry. Since starting his campaign O’Keefe has been the recipient of some
hate mail himself, but the intimidatory tactics have simply acted to spur
him on. He welcomes the idea of a new law. "The law will give us the means
to get into court. The practice of religious hatred is seen as normal
behaviour in this part of Sussex, even by the police. We need a law that
protects everyone - you don't need to be religious to hate all religions,"
said O’Keefe.
While the detrimental effects of religious hatred can be seen in Britain,
across the water in Ireland the true fruits of what happens when such a
tendency goes unchecked are clear for all to see. It should be remembered
that the conflict in Northern Ireland began as a battle over civil rights -
the right of people in that part of the UK to have the same rights to
education, healthcare and housing as elsewhere. There were Protestants who
were part of the early civil rights movement. The religious divide in the
conflict was fostered by the way in which the government of the statelet and
its backers in Westminster reacted to the calls for change. It was the
approach adopted and the propaganda fed out to the media that led to the
conflict being portrayed as one over religion. Many of the policies adopted
fostered religious hatred. An individual who has fermented much of the
discord in Northern Ireland at that time was the present leader of the
Democratic Unionist Party Ian Paisley. Paisley played an important part in
the early days of the conflict in whipping up religious hatred toward the
Catholics and moving the debate away from civil rights. It seems something
less that coincidental that Paisley’s Church also has a chapel in Lewes
which he has visited.
In Northern Ireland, the ongoing struggles every July and August over the
Orange Order marches prove how religious as well as racial hatred have come
together to create an unholy mixture that can erupt into violence at any
time. The two things have become completely intertwined. It was noticeable
that members of the fascist Combat 18 and the British Ulster Alliance joined
with the Orange Order for the 12 July marches.
Religious hatred between Protestant and Catholic has been long and
deep-seated in Britain over the years. Today, there are still many jobs in
public life that Catholics are not allowed to do. There are a number of
petty laws and conventions that still restrict the role of Catholics in
Britain. These laws could easily be removed but for some reason those in
government choose not to do so. One example of a piece of petty religious
discrimination is the Act of Settlement, which dates back 300 years. Under
the A of C if a member of the Royal family marries a Catholic he or she
forfeits his or her succession to the throne. Labour MP Kevin McNamara has
been trying for a number of years to get the A of C repealed but so far
without success.
McNamara is one of those who have championed the need for a law that outlaws
religious hatred in the UK. The Hull MP was though keen to see the charge of
inciting religious hatred applied to institutions as well as individuals.
"Institutions of the state like the police must be as much subject to the
law as the individual," said McNamara.
McNamara draws on the example of Northern Ireland where there have been anti
religious hatred laws since the 1970s but they are simply not implemented.
"The law there is just not prosecuted," said McNamara. According to many
Catholics the Police Service of Northern Ireland continue to police in the
wholly one-sided way of the Royal Ulster Constabulary before it. There has
been a name and uniform change but little else.
The move by the Home Secretary to outlaw religious hatred should be
welcomed. Though as with so much of what this Labour Government does, it
gives with one hand and takes with the other. So while it may legislate
against religious discrimination, the way in which many of its anti-terror
policies are being pursued on the ground, particularly toward the Muslim
community, has fostered division and hatred. This is an approach that has
already been tried and tested in Northern Ireland. Religious hatred laws
were enacted but ignored while the actions of the state promoted religious
hatred. To promote religious and racial harmony there needs to be an even
handed approach adopted which does not amount to singling out one group of
people to be targeted on racial or religious grounds. This is what is
happening at the moment in the media and by government. So while anti
religious hatred laws are to be welcomed there also needs to be a reality
check on the ground where the actions of government are making both
religious and racial hatred more likely to be practiced.
