Evangelical Alliance anxious at Theatre example of Religious Hatred Legislation

Evangelicals have expressed a great 'alarm' regarding a Birmingham play that has closed due to actions of violence committed by a minority. The Repertory theatre in Birmingham had to cancel their recently released production of Behzti, which translates as 'Dishonour' in Punjabi, after hundreds of people attempted to interrupt the performance.

The Evangelical Alliance has backed a number of bishops that have said that they are sympathetic to the Sikh community, who have expressed their anger and dismay at the production that they find offensive.

However, despite their sympathy being conveyed, the EA also used the situation to highlight the potential restrictiveness of the proposed government legislation regarding incitement of religious hatred.

The Ea has already made well-known its fears that the new bill may highly restrict religious freedom to evangelise and put up barriers to the freedom of expression.

The Head of Public Affairs for the Evangelical Alliance, Don Horrocks has recently attended a House of Commons discussion, along with other faith groups and religious organisations. Horrocks told the Commons that other faith groups should be less sensitive to criticism of their faith, and compared the ways in which Christians are forced to withstand high levels of criticism by many areas of today’s society.

At the announcement of the production, Horrocks stated, "There is no doubt that with artistic freedom there should come responsibility. It is not acceptable to cloak religious provocation and insult under the guise of artistic license - that would amount to a form of 'religious fundamentalism' in itself."

"On the other hand, the correct response to provocation should not be coercive censorship. In this country we have the freedom to express ideas, many of them controversial, which is a precious liberty that should be preserved. Peaceful protest and challenge, combined with boycotting and critique is the most acceptable way to express opposition."

He concluded, "It would be interesting to discover on religious grounds whether this play would fall foul of the Government's new anti-hate legislation, incorporated in the Serious Organised Crime and Disorder Bill. Lack of clarity on this Bill means at the moment we don't know for sure. We remain concerned that by highlighting some kind of right not to be offended the price paid will be too costly in terms of loss of freedom of speech and heightened tensions between communities."

The Evangelical Alliance have indicated that they will continue to fight the proposed legislation to create a new incitement to religious hatred law, due to fears that it will provide an alarming barrier against open communications on religious issues, and also prove to be a restriction on evangelical movements.