In The Faith - A Chronicle of the Christian Faith

By simply using this law, satanists and witches can complain about priests making their beliefs seem evil. Causing any hatred against any people of any religious faith carries a penalty of a seven-year jail sentence.

The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, now passing through parliament, has been used by Labour to bolster support among Muslims. Charles Clarke, the home secretary, says the bill is of “vital importance” to protect Muslims and other groups from “religious hatred”.

Opponents of the bill — including Rowan Atkinson, the comedian, and Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury — have said that it could be used to censor films, books and television programmes.

Last week they warned that it could also be abused by members of religious cults who could complain to the police about anyone who insulted their beliefs. A similar law in Australia was used by a jailed witch to launch a criminal prosecution of the Salvation Army after it criticised witchcraft.

Kevin Carlyon, who describes himself as the “high priest of British white witches”, said that British witches were likely to use the laws: “Witches do not roam around naked and hang people up. I am pleased that we will be protected by these new laws from bias or persecution.”

Carlyon said that satanist groups were also likely to exploit the legislation: “There are a couple of groups in England and I think they may well use the new act. Some of the satanists are nice as pie, although I don’t support what they do.

“They just have these rules that they have to abide by carnal greed, carnal lust and carnal joy. It’s all the pleasures in life, really, but they are not well thought of.”

[ Full Story @ TimesOnline.co.uk ]

Source: TimesOnline.co.uk © 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd.

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Filed under: Society and Culture, Persecution, Ethics