ONCE again criticism of religion has been wrongly equated with racism – which is, of course, a different kettle of fish altogether, and should rightly be condemned.
Nevertheless, it was reported today that legendary sex symbol Brigitte Bardot, 73, has been fined £12,000 for “inciting racial hatred” against Muslims for speaking out against unspeakable acts of cruelty.
Her bizarre conviction by a court in Paris – her fifth – arose as a result of the animal rights campaigner arguing that Muslims should stun animals before slaughtering them during the annual Aid al-Kabir blood-letting festival. (See earlier Freethinker report here).
According to the Daily Telegraph, in December 2006 the retired French film star-turned-animal rights activist wrote a letter to France’s then interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, demanding animal stunning.
She outraged anti-racist groups by saying:
I’ve had enough of being led by the nose by this whole population which is destroying us, and destroying our country by imposing their ways.
She was absent from today’s court hearing in Paris, but wrote to prosecutors saying:
I’m sickened by how anti-racist groups are harassing me. I won’t shut up until stunning is carried out on animals before their ritual slaughter.
Miss Bardot, who shot to word-wide fame in the 50s in the lead role in And God Created Woman, already had four convictions on similar charges.
In 2004 she was fined £4000 for inciting racial hatred in her book A Cry in the Silence.
France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim community, estimated at five million people.
You can see other sickening pictures of animals being ritually-slaughtered here.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
