Wednesday, January 14, 2026

“To criticise a person for their race is manifestly irrational and ridiculous but to criticise their religion, that is a right. That is a freedom. The freedom to criticise ideas, any ideas – even if they are sincerely held beliefs – is one of the fundamental freedoms of society. A law which attempts to say you can criticise and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed.”

This is what Rowan Atkinson (known as Mr Bean) said 20 years ago to the House of Commons in a meeting about a planned government bill to outlaw inciting religious hatred (via BBC, 2004-12-07, Atkinson’s religious hate worry).

It made me ask the following weird question: Is it allowed for an employer to declare that Muslims (or Christians, or Hindus, or Atheists, fill in whatever religion you want) are not accepted in their company? The recruiter would refuse an otherwise qualified applicant just because of their religion, saying e.g. “You would fit perfectly for this position, but unfortunately you are Muslim.”