Slouching toward Bethlehem
A proposed anti-hate law aimed at stamping out religious intolerance in Britain has a number of prominent artists and intellectuals worrying that their ability to freely criticize religion will be threatened if the law passes. According to Philip Pullman and Monica Ali, two of the authors of an essay on the Guardian site, the proposed legislation does not distinguish between legitimate criticism of religious ideas and the deliberate inciting of hatred toward a specific faith group. This could open the door to an attack by conservative religious groups on anyone who criticizes their beliefs or agendas. “The inevitable consequence for literature,” Pullman argues, “will be that publishing decisions will increasingly be made not by editors, as they used to be; nor by accountants, as they now are; but by lawyers.”
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Read the Guardian essay
