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Is a religious group a 'race' or isn't it? Is someone 'racist' if they publicly state their dislike of a religious group? An Australian tribunal has answered this question by ruling that Muslim is not a race, and as such, a person who vilifies them in public, an act which is currently illegal in Australia, would not have broken the law.
In 2016 Sonia Kruger 'called for an end to migration from Islamic countries' saying that she wanted people to feel safe when going out to celebrate Australia day. Sam Ekermawi, a Muslim, filed a complaint to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal claiming the comments were racial vilification.
The tribunal was unable to conclude Muslims living in Australia "are a 'race' by reason of a common ethnic or ethno-religious origin" and dismissed the application. This is an important milestone in the legal and cultural development of the ocean-bound nation which is still attempting to balance the melting pot of cultures and people who have migrated to the country from all over the world. This ruling may be a key threshold for defining what the word 'race' actually means in the legal and social and cultural context and how laws will be interpreted in the future.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @04:57PM (2 children)
Religion is a choice, just like politics. So, if you choose to be an asshole about it, you should suffer the consequences.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by cellocgw on Saturday February 16 2019, @07:42PM (1 child)
Exactly. I suspect "vilify," like "pornography," is one of those "I can't define it but I know it when I see it" things. So far as religion goes, it's clearly not a race [which IMHO is a polite term for "breed"]. I can see insulting, rejecting, or vilifying people's religious beliefs as both protected speech and counterproductive to ridding the world of that poison, but I draw the line at personal attacks or violence. When a person commits, say, murder in the name of his religion, I want him prosecuted for murder. I don't care what the reason is.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by cellocgw on Saturday February 16 2019, @09:21PM
I guess I should add that there should never ever be an "excemption" from any law based on any religious, or "deeply held personal" beliefs. My dream: a government based on reality.
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