THE PREACHER: NEXT TARGET IN FIGHT AGAINST CRIME

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Yesterday today forever the same (x4)

It is already here and in case you haven't felt it yet, it's only a matter of time before you could be answering criminal charges for, yes preaching the gospel. Recent trends of preachers being apprehended for categorically condemning homosexuality as a sin leaves much to be desired.

The arrest, detention and charge of Dale McAlpine, a Christian preacher in Workington, Cumbria over the weekend has once again brought to the fore  the ugly head of "Political Correctness". Mr McAlpine who works in the energy industry has been handing out leaflets and preaching in his town of Workington for years. His crime this time round was that, he told a passer-by and a gay police community support officer that, as a Christian, he believed homosexuality was one of a number of sins that go against the word of God.

According to the DailyMail;
Mr Mcalpine said a woman came up to him and they became engaged in a debate about his faith, during which he says he recited a number of sins referred to in 1 Corinthians in the Bible, including blasphemy, fornication, adultery, drunkenness and homosexuality, as well as talking about repentance and salvation.

He and the woman were standing close to each other and he said he did not raise his voice.

Mr Mcalpine says that as the woman left, one of the two officers, PCSO Sam Adams, approached her and had a brief chat before walking towards him. Mr Mcalpine asked Mr Adams if everything was OK.

According to Mr Mcalpine, Mr Adams said there had been complaints and warned him that if he made racist or homophobic remarks he could be arrested. Mr Mcalpine said: ‘I told him I was not homophobic but sometimes I did say that the Bible says homosexuality is a crime against the Creator, but it was not against the law to say this. 

‘The PCSO then told me he was gay and he was the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender liaison officer for the police. ‘I said, “It is still a sin”, and our conversation ended. It wasn’t a loud or aggressive conversation.’

‘I was then arrested, read my rights and put into the back of a marked police van. When we got to the station they emptied my pockets, took my mobile and my belt and my trainers, so I was in my socks.’

Mr Mcalpine was put in a cell and asked for his Bible. ‘I read it and sang hymns like Amazing Grace as loudly as I could,’ he said.

Police took his fingerprints, a palm print, a retina scan and a DNA swab. He eventually saw the duty solicitor and was interviewed by an officer in a room equipped with a table, four chairs and a

recording device.

At a hearing on Friday, Mr McAlpine was charged under Sections 5 (1) and (6) of the Public Order Act 1986 (same as for hooligans and violent rioters) and released on bail on the condition that he did not preach in public. He pleaded not guilty and awaits a trial date.

Glassgow, March 2010

Shawn Holes a preacher from America was arrested and fined £1000 for telling passers-by in Glasgow city centre that homosexuals deserved the "wrath of God" and would go to hell. The American Baptist, who was touring Britain with colleagues, was arrested by police while responding to questions from people in Sauchiehall Street on 18 March. He said later: "There were homosexuals listening – around six or eight of them – who were kissing each other and cuddling, and asking 'What do you think of this?' "It felt like a set-up by gay campaigners. When asked directly about homosexuality, I told them homosexuals risked the wrath of God unless they accepted Christ."

Colchester, March 2010

Paul Shaw, 62, was arrested on February 19 after complaints about his preaching outside a Debenhams department store due to omments he made about homosexual conduct.In March a district judge threw out the case for lack of evidence.

Gainsborough, 2008

Andy Robertson a preacher, was told by a police officer that it is a crime to publicly express the belief that homosexuality is a sin.

South Wales, 2006

Stephen Green, a Christian campaigner, was arrested for handing out evangelistic tracts at a gay pride festival in Cardiff. Police admitted that he had not behaved in a violent or aggressive manner, but confirmed that officers arrested him because the leaflets contained biblical quotes about homosexuality. Mr Green was held at a police station for four hours, questioned, charged and eventually committed for trial. The case against Mr Green was subsequently dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Bournemouth, 2002

Harry Hammond, a Christian pensioner, was convicted under the public order laws for saying that homosexuality was immoral. Mr Hammond, 69 at the time and suffering from Asperger Syndrome, was preaching in Bournemouth town centre holding a sign bearing the words, ‘Jesus Gives Peace, Jesus is Alive, Stop Immorality, Stop Homosexuality, Stop Lesbianism, Jesus is Lord’. But a crowd of around 40 people who disagreed with his preaching forced him to the ground where some people poured mud and water on him. When two police officers eventually turned up at the scene it was Mr Hammond who was arrested and charged. No violent members of the crowd were arrested.

Mr Hammond died the following year. A posthumous appeal at the High Court acknowledging that Mr Hammond should have the right to freedom of religion and the freedom to express his beliefs failed. It was ruled that Harry Hammond had acted unreasonably in holding up a sign he knew to be offensive. A further appeal to the European Court of Human Rights was dismissed.

Projections

For now these arrests have been limited to street preaching. What would happen when they start entering churches to hurl preachers' from behind the pulpits and into waiting vans?

It scares me that Labour has made a manifesto commitment to effectively criminalize bible preaching. The move seeks to repeal the free speech safeguard introduced by Lord Waddington following cases of Christians being investigated by police for expressing their opinions on homosexuality. The Waddington amendment as it is known makes clear that criticizing homosexual conduct, or encouraging someone to refrain from such conduct, is not a crime in itself.

Interestingly, the Waddington amendment is backed by comedian Rowan Atkinson, and homosexuals Peter Tatchell, Matthew Parris and Christopher Biggins.

The Government on four occasions has tried to remove the amendment but failed because the Lords voted against it. So the question is, who is the government fighting for or trying to impress?

According to The Christian Institute’s Mike Judge, Labour’s stance is a “slap in the face to Christians and people who uphold traditional values”.

In an interview with homosexual magazine Attitude in November, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said “I’m proud that thanks to Labour, incitement to homophobic hate will now be a crime. He continued, “. . .the law we recently passed was watered down through the so-called Waddington amendment.

The Conservatives on the other hand have sacked a parliamentary candidate for Scotland, Philip Lardner after he opined that homosexuality was not normal and called for a public ban to be re-imposed.

The Liberal Democrats as their name suggest are too liberal to be bothered.

WATCH VIDEOS OF CHRISTIANS QUIZZED BY POLICE