Atkinson joins Evangelical Coalition

Television star, Rowan Atkinson, from the celebrated comedy series 'Blackadder' has joined conservative Christian groups in opposing the proposed religious hatred Bill. The celebrity will lead a coalition of comedians, writers and religious groups to oppose the Government's plans to control extremists who incite religious hatred.

The force will now launch a campaign against some of the components of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill.

Opposition to the religious hatred Bill has been clearly voiced by many conservative groups including the Barnabas Fund, the Evangelical Alliance, and the Lawyer Christian Fellowship. The Bill is due to receive its second reading this week, and will look to create a new offence of incitement to religious hatred, which has the aim of protecting faith groups, in particular Muslims.

The backing of the bench of bishops has already been given for the House of Lords by the Bishop of Manchester. However, the new coalition think that the current laws already have more than enough restrictions to deal with extremists that incite religious hatred or carry out attacks.

Fears have arisen that the new Bill will work against free speech, and in particular has worried many that it will greatly restrict comedians and writers, in addition to legitimate discussions and debates regarding religion and its practices.

A number of evangelical groups have joined the coalition's views that the new Bill will restrict greatly their Evangelistic efforts, as criticism of other religions will be curbed.

The coalition will launch their campaign tonight in Westminster, and Atkinson will be joined by columnist Joan Smith, human rights lawyer Anthony Lester QC, and also speakers from the Barnabas Fund, and the Lawyer's Christian Fellowship.

In a promotional speech for the campaign, Atkinson reported, "Freedom of expression must be protected for artists and entertainers and we must not accept a bar on the lampooning of religion and religious leaders.

"There is an obvious difference between the behaviour of racist agitators who can be prosecuted under existing laws and the activities of satirists and writers who may choose to make a comedy or criticism of religious beliefs, practices or leaders, just as they do politics."

The meeting in Westminster will be chaired by Liberal Democrat MP, Dr Evan Harris, who said, "There is a great deal of concern about these proposals across political parties. There are already enough laws to deal with incitement to violence and to deal with disorderly behaviour based on religious grounds, but it is essential that we maintain free speech in discussing and criticising religious ideas, doctrines and practices."

Paul Cook, from the Barnabas Fund said, "There is a real danger that this law could be used by extremists to silence organisations like ourselves from highlighting the persecution of Christians and other human rights abuses which occur within some religious communities."

A Home Office spokesperson, however defended the Bill, and stated that it in no way interfered with freedom of speech.

"The incitement offences have a high criminal threshold and prosecutions require the consent of the Attorney General. There has not been a widespread sense that the existing offence has interfered with free speech and we are confident that an offence of incitement to religious hatred will not do so either."