Plans by the UK government to not go ahead with making Islamophobia an offence would appear on the surface to be a victory for common sense.
In March 2026 the government put in place a ‘non-statutory definition of anti-Muslim hostility.’ The government is adamant that this is an advisory, not legally binding measure and that free speech remains inviolate.
Internet AI says that this plan covers violence, harassment, and prejudicial stereotyping; it applies to individuals based on their actual or perceived Muslim identity; it will not hinder criticism of religion or beliefs, and a special representative on anti-Muslim hostility will be appointed to support implementation. How this will work out in practice remains to be seen. It will be greeted with relief by those expecting something more draconian but it still provides special measures for a specific religious group.
If you belong to a religion, which is the equivalent of an American Homeowners Association, filled with rules and regulations, then one of the cardinal rules is do not take the head honcho’s name in vain – or else!
Do that and you might find yourself getting stoned, and not in a good way. However, cursing those who follow and support a different honcho is positively encouraged.
‘Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for me’ is a line from a 1964 Carry On film; ‘Blasphemy, blasphemy, they’ve all got it in for me’, doesn’t come within a light year of being as funny, but then blasphemy is certainly no laughing matter. And never has been. Merriam-Webster defines blasphemy as ‘the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God or to something sacred’.
In modern times AI says that ninety-five countries, possibly more, still have laws that regulate blasphemy. In six countries, mainly in West Asia, the penalty for blasphemy is death. It was always thus because to attack the gods a group had brought into being was to try to undermine that society.
Thomas Aikenhead, a seventeenth century Scottish student, articulated the following statement: ‘Theology is a rhapsody of ill-invented nonsense, patched up partly of the moral doctrines of philosophers, and partly of poetical fictions and extravagant chimeras’. However, uttering these sentiments, or truths, resulted in his hanging at the year’s end of 1696. Aikenhead was the last person to be executed for blasphemy in Great Britain.
In 1977 a private libel prosecution for blasphemy was brought against Gay News and its editor. It resulted in financial damages being awarded against the defendants. In 1979 an appeal to the House of Lords against its conviction was lost. One of the judges hearing the appeal opined that blasphemy laws ought to cover all religions, not just Christianity, and would no doubt have liked to implement some medieval punishment against those who ‘cause grave offence to the religious feelings of some of their fellow citizens or are such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely to read them.’
DC
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