Mad Cows and Hate Crimes By Madeleine Kearns
The Scottish government aims to protect people from real harm and also from those dreadful haters who might participate in wrongthink.
My blood is no use in America. What I mean is, as a native of the British Isles, born amid an epidemic of “mad cow” disease, I am theoretically a carrier of this brain-wasting affliction and, accordingly, forbidden from donating my sanguine elixir to U.S. blood banks — on the off chance it’s madly bad (or is that badly mad?).
At first, I thought this rather far-fetched. But when my visiting mother presented me with the Scotsman from last Friday — front page: “four cattle have been slaughtered in efforts to contain the first case of ‘mad cow’ disease in Scotland in a decade” — I reconsidered.
Incidentally, there is a strange quirk in Scots law protecting the bovine. According to the Licensing Act of 1872, it remains illegal to be drunk and in possession of a cow. But I digress. The Scotsman report reassured: “Authorities have said the public should not worry as no infected meat entered the food chain.”
Of course, this slaughter, like restrictive blood donation, is a precautionary measure intended to protect the general public from risk of serious harm. This is an obvious point, perhaps, but it is an important one by way of contrast.
Picture this, if you will: The Reverend David Robertson, a Protestant minister at St. Peter’s Free Church in Dundee and author of the delightful TheWeeFlea blog, was riding his bicycle through the lively Scottish city when one of the following signs caught his attention.
Apparently, these posters are part of a new campaign, funded by the Scottish government and run by Police Scotland (no less), intended to stamp out the terrible crime of — um — “hate.” Before we get into why this is vague, silly, playground stuff, I’ll share with you my first question: What presumptuous arse (I’d put it more strongly, but it would only be edited out) thought to sign this on behalf of the entire country?
There’s much more to parse here. “We believe people should be allowed to be themselves. Except if they’re spreading hate,” one poster addressed to “transphobes” declares. Another directed at “bigots” warns that “we don’t want your religious hate” and “that’s why if we see or hear your hate, we’re reporting you. End of sermon.” Which is a surprisingly open admission of religiosity from the Scottish government.
Indeed, as I have written elsewhere, I have deep concerns about Scotland’s overreaching new religion, which is too often indistinguishable from the Scottish Nationalist Party–led Scottish government. I call it the Church of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, because, with all its shrill hypocrisy, that is what it is. The Church of EDI fills the spiritual void in our godless times, offering easy virtue to eager members. Not to everyone, mind you.
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