UK government refuses to say whether proclaiming divinity of Christ is a hate crime

MyOwnSockPuppet said:

I've kinda got mixed feelings about the Lords Spiritual, I mean they do make up a sizeable chunk of the House of Lords (about 3.3%), but then again their numbers of former politicians (who have been "retired" by the electorate in their constituencies is far higher.
I can't help but feel that when the House of Lords gets reformed next, given its role (amending rather than proposing legislation, acting as oversight and a check and balance) then we really don't need Bishops en masse, and certainly fewer ex-politicians. My personal preference would be a "House of Experts", where the appointments are ex officio (so the holders of certain roles (so a smattering of bishops, the presidents of some of the learned societies, the general secretary and deputy GS of the Trades Union Congress, an equivalent number of high functionaries from the Confederation of British Industry, and so on) would be entitled to sit in the Lords, for as long as they held the role).

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Terminal_Marxicity said:

Multiculturalism in the UK.

UK government refuses to say whether proclaiming divinity of Christ is a hate crime

“British Government refuses to say whether proclaiming divinity of Christ is a hate crime,” Catholic Herald, December 14, 2017:

The British government has refused to say whether telling people about the Christian faith could be a hate crime.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, a UKIP peer, says when he raised a question on the issue on the House of Lords, the government failed to state clearly whether Christians cannot be prosecuted just for stating their beliefs.

“I said to the government ‘Will they confirm unequivocally that a Christian who says that Jesus is the only son of the one true God cannot be arrested for hate crime or any other offence, however much it may offend a Muslim or anyone of any other religion?’”

In response to the question, government whip Baroness Vere of Norbiton said: “My Lords, I am not going to comment on that last question from the noble Lord.” She added that the legal definition of “hate crime” has been the same for the past 10 years.

Speaking to Premier Christian Radio, Lord Pearson said the refusal to comment was “pretty unique” and “makes one very worried”.

He said the current definition of “hate crime”, which relies on whether the victim feels offended, was “stupid” and called for the law to be clarified.

“Certainly the stricter Muslims do feel offended by Christianity and our belief in Jesus being the only Son of the one true God,” he added.

He also said there is a double standard in how hate crime laws are applied to Christianity and Islam.

“You can say what you like about the Virgin Birth, the miracles and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but as soon as you say ‘come on, is Islam really the religion of peace that it claims to be’, all hell breaks loose.”…

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Catherineanne said:

Some Bishops have seats in the House of Lords but by no means all do. And there are other faith groups recognised in the Lords as well, not just Anglicans and not just Christians.

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MrSpikey said:

I didn't say all Bishops did, I'm happy to clarify that isn't what I meant if it wasn't clear.

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hedrick said:

Here's an interesting response to the OP: The British Government has made it crystal clear that proclaiming the divinity of Christ is not a hate crime. I think it makes a reasonable case that proclaiming Christ's divinity is not about to be a hate crime.

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Ana the Ist said:

This has been a go-to tactic for christians since ancient Rome. If you actually look into what early christian martyrs were executed for...almost none of them were executed for being christian. They either disrespected Roman officials or otherwise broke laws...and were punished for it. If I remember correctly, almost none of them would have been saved by renouncing their christianity.

If that seems unlikely because it's hard to understand why someone would rather die than simply acknowledge the sovereignty of the emperor (for example)...then you need to consider the views of ancient christians on martyrdom. In those days, it was considered a "free pass" into heaven where they'd gain themselves a seat of honor on the right hand of god himself. It's the ancient christian version of "40 virgins" and other such afterlife rewards for dying for your faith.

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