PHILIP PULLMAN and Nicholas Hytner are leading a campaign to repeal blasphemy laws after the Government’s failure to outlaw “abusive and insulting” criticism of religion.
Pullman, the author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, and Hytner, the director of the National Theatre, are spearheading a movement to remove the special protection afforded to the Church of England by 300-year-old blasphemy laws. They have been brought together by English Pen, a lobby group for freedom of expression, whose members include Salman Rushdie and Hanif Kureishi.
Pullman, who wrote about the death of God in The Amber Spyglass, told The Times that the blasphemy laws had no place in modern Britain. “Exactly the wrong response would be to extend them to cover other religions. Where would you stop?” he asked. “The right response would be to repeal them altogether and let religion, like every other form of human thought, take its chance in free, open debate.”
Hytner, who received hundreds of letters telling him he would go to Hell after he invited Jerry Springer – The Opera to the National, said that repealing blasphemy laws was the next logical step for the Government. “Parliament has reaffirmed its attachment to freedom of expression and has slapped down a Government that has been too ready to sacrifice it. The Government should demonstrate its stated opposition to religious discrimination by repealing the blasphemy laws. ”
He told The Times that he had repeatedly put on blasphemous shows such as Paul, a play by Howard Brenton that closed at the National this month. He added that he had discussed the matter informally with members of the Cabinet. “I have had suggestions in private from within the Cabinet that [repealing the law] is a good idea.”
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Other authors, including Rushdie and Kureishi, are likely to join the campaign. Rushdie, whose book The Satanic Verses outraged Muslims when it was published in 1988, said that he was relieved that authors would not face prosecution for criticising religion.
The Church of England said that the blasphemy laws, which are part of common law, were a “dead letter”.
The Right Rev Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, said in November that the Church of England “has expressed a willingness in principle to assent to their repeal”, but argued that this would be appropriate only after the passage of the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill.
Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat human rights spokesman, said that he was waiting for an opportunity to propose a repeal of blasphemy laws, either as an amendment to relevant legislation or as a Private Member’s Bill.
Blasphemy is illegal under common law and the 1697 Blasphemy Act. It covers only blasphemy against the Church of England after a judgment in 1938. The last successful prosecution was in 1977, when Mary Whitehouse of the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association brought a private prosecution against Denis Lemon, editor of Gay News, for publishing a poem about a gay centurion’s love for Christ.