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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

That is it. For that very reason, hatred on the basis of race is a completely irrational thing; one is hating somebody else for something over which they have no control. The point bears making, however, that there is a degree of compulsion that comes with one’s religious beliefs and questions of faith that leads one to demand and to be entitled to a degree of protection from the law. That is one of the biggest difficulties that the Bill faces. It is because one is compelled to speak out in a certain way because of one’s religious beliefs that the freedom of religious expression is very important and the Bill poses a real danger in this regard. The Government may have rather oversold the Bill in some religious communities, but there is a growing realisation that the Bill will be as unpopular among the Muslim communities as it will be among those who have been lobbying us so vigorously in the last few weeks.