In a free society

Much as I hate to agree with a Tory

Protests outside a school where pupils were shown a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad are “deeply unsettling”, a government minister has said.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said teachers should be able to “appropriately show images of the prophet” in class.

In other words religion is a subject as well as a practice. Comparative religion can be taught in schools, and schools should be able to teach it without protests and complaints and teachers getting suspended.

Mr Jenrick called for the “deeply unsettling” scenes outside the school to “come to an end”.

“In a free society we want religions to be taught to children and for children to be able to question and query them,” he told the BBC.

“We must see teachers protected and no-one should be feeling intimidated or threatened as they go into school.”

That is, in a free society we want children to be taught about religions, which requires freedom to ask questions and discuss.

Kenan Malik observes:

6 Responses to “In a free society”