Thank the Lords for some religious sanity

Thank the Lords for comedians, a rush of sanity to the heads of some British MPs, and Tony Blair's decision to step outside the House. If he continues to attempt measures like the only-just-rejected Racial & Religious Hatred Bill, Blair should step outside and make sure it's for quite some time.

So why thank the Lords? LibertyScott explains:

Meanwhile, the House of Lords is earning its keep defending these freedoms. First it defeated the ID card bill, by insisting that it be explicitly voluntary. Now it has referred the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill back to the House of Commons, after removing the element that would have prohibited “insulting or abusive” speech against religions, and inserting “intent” as a critical part of offences under the Bill. What the Bill intends to do is to prohibit the spreading of hatred against religions, with the emphasis being to target Muslims and Christians who incite holy war against each other. In fact, a coalition of comedians, Christians, Muslims, libertarians, humanists and other atheists have been opposing the Bill.

So, good on the House of Lords. It almost makes one long for an intelligent Upper House in NZ with all-powerful rights of veto over whatever gets passed up the chain. (I can dream, can't I?)

Meanwhile, The Whig (bless him) has taken this opportunity to congratulate Rowan Atkinson on his successful campign to overturn the Bill by composing a wee song for him, and taken advantage of his newly re-established freedom to insult religions by, well, insulting a religion.

Bye y'all, I'm off to have a Danish or two to celebrate the British victory and the Danish demonstration of its importance (and have you heard the rumour that whole storm in a burqa was a setup by Danish muslims to have press censorship introduced? Slimy bastards.)

Links: Insulting Religions is a right - LibertyScott
The Black Adder Strikes Again! - The Whig
...In Which The Whig Attempts to Spark a Major International Diplomatic Incident - The Whig
Jihad agaisnt Danish Newspaper - Brussels Journal
Take Note Cardiff: We Are All Danes Now - Brussels Journal