Will indifference and disapproval soon become a crime?
Should we be worried?
I wonder how many people have read the novel in 1984. I have read it three times. The last time I read it was in 1984. For those who have never read the story, it describes a Britain of the future ruled by a totalitarian government, as imagined by George Orwell. The book was published in 1948.
With each visit to the novel, I grew more concerned with how society seemed to be moving toward some of the more unpleasant aspects of the story.
There is a scene described in the book where party members are all forced to partake in five minutes of hate every morning. They must vent their hatred against whatever enemy the ruling class has designated to be deserving of their bile.
What I find disturbing is that now we have something called a hate crime in this country. Now I am not going to defend the trolls who attack people on social media, or those who espouse hate and incite violence against others.
My worry is the way this law has been used against people who have never displayed hatred against anyone.
Some time ago, a church supposedly broke the law by displaying a poster warning of the perils awaiting those who did not believe in God. Most people treated the poster with indifference, but one person complained to the police, and they decided to record it as a hate crime. Despite the fact that the poster did not propagate hatred in any way.
On another occasion, a middle-aged Christian couple publicly expressed their disapproval of homosexuality, as they claimed it was against the teachings of their faith. They did not express hatred of homosexuals, just disapproval. But this did not stop two detectives travelling miles to interview them and warn them against expressing their disapproval in the future, as this would then be considered a hate crime.
In neither of these cases was hatred being displayed, just disapproval.
So, will we soon be getting a law depicting disapproval as a crime, to back up the hate crime law?
As, in my opinion, the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. Perhaps the law against indifference is on its way.
So, we already have the crime of hate.
Will we soon have the crime of disapproval?
Will indifference also become a crime?
More stories from my sometimes-addled brain.
I owe a Swiss village an apology.
