This story caught my skeptical, despairing-for-humanity eye today.
A police employee who claims to have been sacked for stating that psychics should be used to solve crimes has overturned an appeal by the police arguing that his views did not amount to a religious faith. Basically it has been ruled that his beliefs in psychics/ghosts/spiritualism/woo are a religious faith and should be respected and afforded the same protection as any other religious belief.
Personally I don’t think a belief in spiritualism or voicing that belief is a cause for dismissal unless it impacted his work directly but that’s not really the issue. The problem is as stated…
Mark Hill, QC, for the authority, said that the ruling could “open the floodgates” to a series of similar claims.
Yes no matter how insane, hateful, evil, stupid or intolerent your beliefs are, as long as you can call it a religion then suddenly you have an extra level of protection by law. OK spiritualism is just the thin, daft, Derek Acorah shaped end of the wedge (although it’s certainly is used to prey on some people) and the fella has every right to fight dismissal over it.
How long will it be though before someone brings a case of discrimination based upon someone questioning or ridiculing it? Protecting ideas from criticism is denying freedom of speech and people with crazy ideas love nothing better than denying freedom of speech in those opposing their ideas.
It’s certainly a worrying ruling.
I did particularly like the justification for his belief though.
Mr Power added that his beliefs stemmed back to his childhood when, he says, he saw ghosts. “I don’t need any other evidence,” he said.
Yeah because that nasty evidence is just for crazy people like skeptics, scientists and er… the police.