What to make of the situation in Batley? Some thoughts. 1. I’m a person of faith but it should never be illegal to blaspheme or to be offensive. (1/9)
2. There is a category of things that are not illegal but I think it’s reasonable to be fired for. Not turning up to work is one of them. (2/9)
3. It is reasonable in some jobs to lose your job for purposefully offending people. A receptionist who tells everyone to f*** off would fit. (3/9)
4. There are some roles where open debate is so important that we should be especially careful about punishing giving offence. Teaching is one of them. (4/9)
5. There are some roles where you need your customers to feel respected so they can benefit from your efforts. Teaching is one of these too. (5/9)
6. If you are teaching, a key skill to have is wise judgement about how to balance the value of free speech and the value of pupils feeling respected and safe. Not an easy balance. (6/9)
7. Some images deeply upset some (but not all) people e.g. burning a National flag, spitting on a picture of the queen, sexual images of Jesus or Mary, any representation of Mohammed. (7/9)
8. Showing this stuff in class should never be illegal. We should be v cautious about any punishment. But teachers do need careful judgement in balancing provoking thought and being respectful. I would personally judge the downside for learning out weights any upside. (8/9)
9. If that means that most teachers choose freely not to share these sort of images (from flag burning to Mohammad), it doesn’t feel like we have lost any freedom as a society. But it must be a choice based on respect, not forced by law or fear. (End)
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