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September 09, 2006
Christian Activist Arrested in Britain
There are two links to look at here. One goes to a news piece, the other to an editorial. Both are from the Daily Mail:
Christian faces court over 'offensive' gay festival leaflets
How Britain is turning Christianity into a crime
Both involve the same incident:
A police force was caught up in a freedom of speech row after its officers arrested an anti-gay campaigner for handing out leaflets at a homosexual rally.
South Wales police admitted evangelical Christian Stephen Green was then charged purely because his pamphlets contained anti-gay quotations from the Bible.
Mr Green faces a court appearance today charged with using 'threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour' after his attempt to distribute the leaflets at the weekend 'Mardi Gras' event in Cardiff.
A spokesman for the police said the campaigner had not behaved in a violent or aggressive manner, but that officers arrested him because 'the leaflet contained Biblical quotes about homosexuality'.
Emphasis mine.
This is a disturbing instance. I'm not big on handing out flyers, mostly because people treat you like a nuisance (and more often than not, you are). I'm even less excited about very confrontational handouts, though that's mostly due to my somewhat mild-mannered persona.
However, arrest? Charges filed? From what I've gleaned from the article, the pamphlets didn't threaten death on homosexuals. It just pointed out the Biblical verses on the matter. I suppose you could consider eternal damnation a threat, but I don't think the law applies there.
I won't oversell the point. But keep this in mind: The actions of this man were considered too offensive to be protected by freedom of speech. However, this:
This is protected speech.
If you're not worried about the future, you're not paying enough attention.
Hat tip: Dr. Mohler
Cross posted at Halbert's Cubicle
Posted by at September 9, 2006 09:48 PM
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Comments
Hey, are these pictures showing up all right? I can see them from home but not from school. Anybody else having a problem?
Posted by: Hal at September 12, 2006 02:05 PM