|PIC1|Hundreds of Christians have gathered together outside the Houses of Parliament in protest against the proposed Religious Hatred Bill. The prayer rally was organised by a coalition of Christian groups, and was timed to coincide with the second reading of the Bill in the House of Lords Oct. 11, 2005.

Even though the Bill has seen huge opposition from actors, comedians, a full range of religious groups and from political experts, it has already passed the House of Commons and is now just a step away from becoming British law.

The core opposition members of the bill have stated that the Bill has been badly drafted with obvious flaws in the wording – something that extremist groups will be sure to exploit and thereby threaten freedom of speech. It has also been argued that the proposals could even increase tensions in the already anxious atmosphere after the July London terrorist bombings.

However, Home Secretary Charles Clarke has stated that it will only punish extreme behaviour and will absolutely not prevent religious preaching or religion-focused comedy.

Rev Katei Kirby, the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA) Chief Executive told, "It affects everyone so deeply. This is not just about doctrine. This is not even about theological opposition. This is about our basic freedom to speak and to preach.

|PIC2|"It affects people's freedom to discuss and to critique anything because it might upset or offend somebody else and that is very serious."

Revealing the width of the opposition to the bill, the National Secular Society also took part in the demonstration. Vice-president Terry Sanderson said: "We are coming at it from a completely different angle from the Christians. They are looking at the restrictions on their right to evangelise. We are looking at the restrictions on our being about to criticise religion per se so we can make common cause with them on this.

"I think this is an indicator to the government of just how wide the opposition is,” Sanderson told the BBC.

Another leading campaigner against the proposed Religious Hatred law has been actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson.

The protest outside the Houses of Parliament has concluded a three-day protest organised by a Christian coalition involving the Evangelical Alliance (EAUK), the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA), the Christian Party, in addition to the Christian Lawyers’ Fellowship (CLF), among many others.

|PIC3|On Saturday Oct. 8th, a hundreds also gathered at Hyde Park in Central London in the first day of the protest prayer rallies against the government’s new proposals.

Speaking to Christian Today, Rev Katei Kirby, CEO of the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA) expressed her opposition to the bill.

“It is clear to us at the Evangelical Alliance and the ACEA what the government wants to do is a good thing, but the wording of the legislation proposed could do more harm than good. It has been left open to interpretation and of course misinterpretation, and this prayer protest ...is to say to our government and the country that we cannot lay down and let this happen to us but we want clearly to protect the freedom of speech in this country,” said Rev Kirby.

The ACEA leader revealed her concerns of the affects on the Christian communities if the bill is passed, “As Christians we are saying it will affect our freedom to preach and teach objectively the gospel and challenge other faiths in the meantime.”

Also supporting the coalition to halt the religious hatred bill at the rally, was Michael Ovey, Professor of Doctrine at Oak Hill College, and also a former civil service lawyer who used to draft government legislation.

|TOP|Ovey stated, “The problem is the way it (the religious hatred bill) operates it is likely to restrict those that preach the gospel in a way that could be seen as offensive to others.”

He also told Christian Today, “Another problem is that if you preach the gospel then you are in danger of committing a criminal offence. Of course this is not the government’s intention and they assure us of this, but when you see the words on the page and think how they operate then that is the way it tends to go.”

One of the organisers of the event, Rev George Hargreaves, leader of The Christian Party, said to Christian Today, “First the problem with the bill is that it already exists in the Public Order Act and the Aggravated Religion Act. There are already the laws necessary in place to take care of the threat this bill is supposed to take care of. The laws are already there and people have been convicted by those laws.

“It is also unworkable. Preachers, comedians, actor and even parliamentarians will...be affected.”

Rev Hargreaves concluded, “Our weapons are not bombs but they are mighty through God and so we are here praying above all for His will to be done.”

The protest rally took place on Oct. 11th, 2005 from 1pm till 4pm, the same day the Bill was put before the House of Lords for a second reading.






Andrew Clark (Christian Today)