Michael Overd and Michael Stockwell were street preaching at the Bristol city center which led to their arrest as they were charged with a Public Order Offence due to preaching the gospel and discussing difference between Islam and Christianity.
Oooooh, I cannot wait for Muslim to be arrested for the very same!!!—but I will not hold my breath.
As per Attorney Michael Phillips, this is “modern-day heresy trial – dressed up under the public order act.” Or, it could be viewed as a public order act which is meant to shut down only certain forms of free speech.
At this point, the result is that they were “ordered to pay £2,016 each, in fines and costs” (circa $2,500).
Michael Stockwell noted, “Men should be able to proclaim the truth and have diverse differences in the public forum, agreeing to disagree without harm or repercussions. Truth today is the new hate” and offers a window into what really occurred in noting that if “You criticise Islam; and a group of individuals don’t like what you say and threaten violence to silence speech they disapprove of. The Police and Court shut down the ‘free speech’ to avoid public disorder. It is a green light to the Islamists and any other radical groups to silence speech. The Police should be protecting us.”
Michael Overd noted, “You can’t have the threat of violence and public disorder to stop us criticising Islam and other lifestyles.”
Now, the prosecutor seems to have used this event as a soap box platform from which to attempt to get his personal prejudices become law.
The Prosecutor, Ian Jackson, is said to have stated, “Whilst it is right that if things are said in the Bible, they can be said to be an expression of religious belief – to use words translated in 1611 in a very different context, in the context of modern British society, must be considered to be abusive and is a criminal matter.”
Oooooh, I cannot wait for the very same to be said of the Qur’an!!!—but I will not hold my breath.
Michael Overd being treated like vicious criminal
He is also to have said, “To say to someone that Jesus is the only God is not a matter of truth. To the extent that they are saying that the only way to God is through Jesus, that cannot be a truth.”
Well, lawyers are generally good logicians and yet, their trade demands that they be biased—in favor of the defendant of plaintiff, etc.—and in any case, humans naturally rebel against God.
Apparently, in the UK one is only allowed to “say to someone” that which the government, the courts, the person listening or who knows who determines is truth.
Of course, Jackson would therefore have to prove that it is true that Jesus is not the only God. Of course, Muslims cannot be allowed to claim that there is no God but Allah nor that Muhammad is his prophet.
Yet, Jackson is not only stating that “To say to someone that Jesus is the only God is” not only “not a matter of truth” but “cannot be a truth” but why not and how does he know?
We can only hope that such cases are ironed out so as to expose the hatred, illogicality, censorship and accusations with which Christian routinely deal.
I am categorizing this under my Unbelievers Compliment Christianity section as anybody making any claim is, by definition, making a truth claim and we are not seeing Atheists, Muslims, Hindus, etc. being brought up on such changes.
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