2015年经济学人 宗教与自由言论 粗鲁的权利

Religion and free speech

The right to be rude

An offensive preacher acquires some unlikely allies

MICHAEL OVERD is an evangelical Christian¹ with strong views on the sinfulness of homosexuality and the wrongness of Islam

(except, presumably, on the issue of homosexuality). He likes to hold forth² among the shoppers of Taunton, a quiet town in south-west England.

But on March 23rd Mr Overd was found guilty of using threatening or abusive language—

although a more serious charge of causing “religiously aggravated” offence was rejected.

The judge, Shamim Qureshi, ordered him to pay ￡250 ($375) in compensation to a man who said he was left feeling “ashamed and belittled” by the preacher's stance on same-sex relations.

When Mr Overd objected to “paying 250 to a sodomite” the judge threatened him with 45 days in prison.

The preacher then agreed to pay compensation but said he would appeal.

“I find it quite incredible that a Muslim judge finds a Christian guilty and wants to protect homosexuals, whom I have no personal hatred³ against,” he declared on leaving the courtroom.

The evangelist has acquired some unlikely defenders⁴. The National Secular⁵ Society (NSS),

which fights religious privilege of all kinds, says the case vindicates⁶ its long-running campaign to safeguard free speech from sloppy⁷ legislation.

Mr Overd was prosecuted⁸ under the Public Order Act, which outlaws⁹ “threatening, insulting or abusive” language and can result in prison sentences of up to seven years if the offence is deemed to be racially or religiously motivated.

Thanks to a campaign by the NSS and others, the law has been amended¹⁰ so that insulting language no longer incurs¹¹ prosecution¹² merely because the police think it has the potential to offend.

It must be shown that an insult was directed at a particular person or group, and that offence was taken.

But civil libertarians want the law further amended to protect insulting speech and take away the reference to religious aggravation¹³.

Although Britain has abolished its ancient ban on blasphemy¹⁴, which punished insults against Christianity,

the concept of religious aggravation amounts to a new sort of blasphemy law that could be used to prevent criticism of any religion,

argues Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the NSS.

One of Britain's best known gay-rights campaigners, Peter Tatchell, has offered to speak in court in favour of the preacher's right to hold forth.

He thinks that Mr Overd's views are bigoted¹⁵ and would protest against them. But being spared offence is not a human right, he says:

“In a free, democratic society, the criminalisation of unpleasant opinions is a step too far.”

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

4 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

6 vindicates   

n.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的名词复数 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的第三人称单数 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护

参考例句：

• The success of the operation completely vindicates my faith in the doctor. 手术的成功完全证明我对这大夫的信任是正确的。 来自辞典例句
• In one sense the verdict vindicates the Bush administration. 在某种意义上，有罪宣判证明了布什当局是正确的。 来自互联网

7 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

8 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

9 outlaws   

歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯

参考例句：

• During his year in the forest, Robin met many other outlaws. 在森林里的一年，罗宾遇见其他许多绿林大盗。
• I didn't have to leave the country or fight outlaws. 我不必离开自己的国家，也不必与不法分子斗争。

10 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

11 incurs   

遭受，招致，引起( incur的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She falls in love and incurs the wrath of her father. 她恋爱了，这引起了父亲的愤怒。
• A judge incurs no civil liability for judicial acts, even if guilty of fraud and corruption. 法官不得因其司法行为而承担民事责任，即使犯有诈欺与贪污罪。 来自口语例句

12 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

13 aggravation   

n.烦恼，恼火

参考例句：

• She stirred in aggravation as she said this. 她说这句话，激动得过分。
• Can't stand the aggravation, all day I get aggravation. You know how it is." 我整天都碰到令人发火的事，你可想而知这是什么滋味。” 来自教父部分

14 blasphemy   

n.亵渎，渎神

参考例句：

• His writings were branded as obscene and a blasphemy against God.他的著作被定为淫秽作品，是对上帝的亵渎。
• You have just heard his blasphemy!你刚刚听到他那番亵渎上帝的话了！

15 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。