Here in the United States, we value our free speech rights – at least, the sensible and liberty-minded among us do. There are plenty on the left who would love to shut us up, using words like “hate speech” or “misinformation.” Another word that can be used is “blasphemy,” and in the United Kingdom, that sad remnant of what was once America, Original Recipe, such attempts to chill free speech are starting to take hold through a mildly surprising route: The courts. The end goal is to make criticism of Islam a crime, and they may just make that happen.
Last October, we reported that Britain had “narrowly avoided blasphemy laws in disguise.” Now, they are very much back on the cards, and could be introduced as soon as this Tuesday.
This is due to the case of Hamit Coskun, a Turkish asylum seeker who burned a copy of the Quran outside his country’s London embassy while shouting, “Islam is a religion of terrorism.” A Muslim man slashed Coskun with a knife and shouted, “I’m going to kill you,” but was spared jail.
Coskun was initially convicted last June of a breach of the Public Order Act, despite supporters noting that “he hurt no one” and “he threatened no one.” The conviction was later overturned on appeal, with Justice Joel Bennathan affirming that there is no offence of blasphemy in UK law, and upholding the “right to offend.”
The Crown Prosecution Service is attempting to reverse the decision, and will have its case heard at the High Court on February 17th.
Free Speech Union founder Toby Young has warned that “if the court overturns his acquittal and upholds the conviction, that will effectively create a Muslim blasphemy law by the back door.”
It will send a message to Muslim fanatics up and down the country that if they want to enforce Islamic blasphemy codes, all they have to do is violently attack the blasphemer, and the blasphemer will then be charged with a religiously aggravated public order offence.
It’s a recipe for chaos. It will be the death knell for free speech in Britain. It will cause a huge rise in community tensions.
He’s right. This would make it open season for anyone with the temerity to criticize Islam in Britain. They will claim that the blasphemy drove them to violence, and demand the blasphemer be punished – which is precisely what is happening to Mr. Coskun. The attempt here, whether it be by design or by mistake, is to chill any criticism of Islam – a protection offered to no other religion in the United Kingdom.
But then, Church of England members don’t generally try to kill you if you badmouth their faith.
Read More: Islamist Terror Threats Ruin Europe’s Christmas Celebrations
Virginia Democrats Are Cooking Up a Chilling ‘Islamophobia’ Bill That Should Alarm Everyone
If Mr. Coskun is wrongly held to account on this matter, then that makes him an actual refugee that we should seek to succor here in the United States, and President Trump appears to be looking into that idea.
Donald Trump’s administration has also said it is in talks to help Coskun flee Britain if he loses his case. One official described this as “one of several cases the administration has made note of.”
But the real warning here? It is, as I am continually pointing out, always important to watch the nations of Europe, because what they are trying to do there, the American left will try to do here. If the Brits are saddled with a sort of back-door blasphemy law, then sooner or later someone will attempt something similar here. It may not be a matter of blasphemy; it may be aimed at criticism of climate scolds, or supporting the Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration laws, getting one fired – oh, wait, that has already happened.
Watch Britain. They are trying this unforgivable chilling of free speech there. They’ll try it here next. We need to remind the left, at every turn, that we live in a big, beautiful free speech zone called the United States of America, and if they don’t like what we have to say, tough Schiff.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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