Memorandum submitted by Ian and Rachel Bevington (CJ&I 166)

Dear Members of the Committee,

My husband and I are writing to express our very real concern about the proposed amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, which would make it a criminal offence to 'incite hatred on the grounds of sexuality'. We are committed Christians. As such we hold that we should love and show love to all people, irrespective of their lifestyle, beliefs and sexual practices. However, we also feel that the introduction of this proposed law is ill advised and poses a considerable danger to freedom of speech and freedom of religion in our nation.

· This proposed law curtails freedom of speech. For a person to disagree with another person's views and beliefs does not mean either that he hates the person or that he is inciting hatred against that person. It is his legal right to be able to say that he disagrees, and to equate disagreement with inciting hate is plainly nonsense. As British citizens we have every right to express our views and beliefs even though they may be contrary to somebody else's views and beliefs.

· Christians condemn hatred, but it cannot be made a criminal offence to hate people for whatever reason. Laws cannot be made to govern people's thinking. Britain is not a Communist state.

· Christians are commanded to love people. They do not hate homosexuals. However the teaching of the bible is that homosexual relationships are wrong, and that God intended sex to be in a marriage relationship between a man and a woman. Some people may find this teaching not to their liking, but it is a teaching which is held very widely by orthodox Christians. In Britain we have the freedom to disagree with what people say and believe. But we strongly defend their right to say what they believe. For a person to say that homosexual relationships are wrong is quite, quite different from inciting religious hatred. For it to be said that a Christian stating or teaching these beliefs is a criminal act is a blatant denial of freedom of speech. This is not inciting hate but stating what he believes.

· Furthermore this law is totally unnecessary. People are already protected from assault and threatening words or behaviour under the existing criminal law. Besides this, the law concerning incitement to commit a criminal offence would make it an offence for any person to incite an act of violence against another person, for whatever reason.

· A number of recent cases of harassment of Christians by the police because they have spoken openly about their beliefs regarding sexuality is causing Christians and others to be afraid of speaking openly about what they believe. This is not right in a society which believes strongly in freedom of speech. Here are just a few examples of Christians who have been maligned and intimidated in an attempt to keep them from speaking about their views. This is absolutely wrong in a country where one of the most basic rights is freedom of speech. Speaking about Christian beliefs has nothing to do with inciting religious hatred.

· The Bishop of Chester was investigated by the Cheshire constabulary after he told his local newspaper of research showing that some homosexuals re-orientated to heterosexuality.

· Family values campaigner, Lynette Burrows, was telephoned by police saying they were investigating a 'homophobic incident' after she said on radio that homosexual men may not be suitable for raising children.

· A Member of the Scottish Parliament asked Strathclyde Police to investigate the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow after he said in a sermon that the moral teaching of the church was being undermined by the introduction of civil partnerships

· Edinburgh University CU was banned from running a course on sexual purity on University premises..

· Joe and Helen Roberts were interrogated by police after they complained about their local council's 'gay rights' police. The police said it was a 'homophobic incident'. The police later admitted no crime had been committed and the police and council issued a public apology.

· Stephen Green was arrested at Cardiff's Mardi Gras for distributing leaflets quoting the bible passages on homosexual activity.

· Glasgow firemen faced discipline for refusing to man an information stall at a gay pride event.

· .A Swedish pastor, Ake Green, was sentenced to one month in jail after giving a sermon in which he said homosexuality was a "deep cancerous tumour" in society. He was acquitted on appeal.

· In 2006 the Western Isles Council in Scotland received hate mail and death threats because its registrars refused, on moral grounds, to conduct civil partnership ceremonies.

In view of these concerns we would strongly urge the Committee to uphold freedom of speech and to recognise that the proposed amendment is not only quite unnecessary but that it would endanger the basic rights of freedom of belief and speech which are our British heritage.

November 2007