It seems as if the Christians are the ones being singled out here. Other groups such as Muslims put homosexuals to death, but no one seems to mention this. This is another attempt to silence all Christian based beliefs, not just their opinion of homosexuality. The world doesn't like Christianity because it stresses morality, which is something the Hollywood mind set would be against, as evidenced by their lifestyle. What is next?An inquisition banning all forms of evangelical worship? A true Christian loves the sinner but hates the sin.

Dale, Birmingham,

There are lots of things in the Bible that it would be criminal to utter in modern society, notably the incitement to genocide in 1 Sam 15, Num 31 etc. Islam has shown us the horrifying face of fundamentalism; Christian fundamentalists would be just as dangerous were it not for modern civilized laws.

Joseph S. O'Leary, Tokyo, Japan

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

Voltaire, France,

Will the Bible be banned and everyone who owns one be rounded up?

C. Henry, Leicester,

If Christians can continue to speak of their anti-homosexual views in a compassionate, reasoned, gentle manner which is non-judgemental, considerate and altogether charitable, then they will have nothing to fear from anti-hatred laws. That ought not to be a problem for a good Christian to manage, and is well within the bounds of free speech, as well as being non-hateful.

G Davids, Somerset, England

Joseph - I am a christian, but I'm not expecting any special rights.
In our society we have an unwritten assumption about free speech. This means that whilst I am able to protest about something like 'Jerry Springer - the Opera' which I find very offensive, I have no right to take any violent or other illegal action. As long as I protest within the law, I should fear no legal redress.

I should also be able to voice my opinion on anything else, provided that I do not incite other people to commit a crime. The concern the author is expressing is that this proposed new law will go beyond that, and make any criticism of homosexuals a crime in itself. I can't say whether this is realistic, but there have been several cases in the news about pensioners and kids being questioned by the police over pretty tame comments.

You said "NOTHING is more important to them than being able to vent their hatred for others." - Personally, I have never met a christian who fits this description.

Kevin Millican, Lowestoft, England

What the "christians" want are special rights. They're demanding to have the rules of civil society not apply to them--because (according to them) they're god's little pets and know better than the rest of us. I swear, NOTHING is more important to them than being able to vent their hatred for others.

Joseph, Cambridge,

Telling people they can't say something only makes them shout it louder. It's in our human nature.

Swede, Grand Rapids, Michigan,

It is one thing expressing expressing a sincerely held belief and another expressing it with the venom and yes - hatred, which is the tone of many Christians, Muslims etc. Anti homosexual views are not exclusive to religionists though, even the once mighty athiestic soviets were violenntly repressive.

Robert Lloyd, Witrral, UK