Opinion: Go back to basics on proposed religious discrimination law
The proposed Religious Discrimination Act has raised more questions and potential problems than it has provided solutions. It was, after all, meant to give solutions and offer protection.
As a natural consequence, there was a rise in discrimination against Muslims and, in particular, behaviour affecting women. I realised that while Jews and Sikhs were afforded some protection through legislation, Muslims were overlooked and so the discrimination has continued to this day. There are two obviously contentious aspects of the bill: the first is the weighing up of freedom of speech versus freedom of religion and the second is the LGBTQI issue.Firstly, this bill could be construed as protecting conservative elements in religious circles and allowing them to get away with offensive statements on any issue whether it’s about homosexuality or adultery and so forth. As a robust democracy, we do need to protect our right to freedom of speech before anything else.
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