WE at the Freethinker carry no torch for religious zealots, but we strongly defend the right of evangelising barmpots to make twats of themselves in public – and even get shat on by gulls (yoo-hoo Stephen “Birdshit” Green, are you listening?)
So it was worrying to learn today of another setback for free speech in PC-plagued Britain.
According to a report in the Sunday Telegraph, a police community support officer, PCSO Naguthney (30825), ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area in Birmingham.
Evangelist ministers Arthur Cunningham, 48 and Joseph Abraham, 65, say they were threatened with arrest for committing a “hate crime” and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned.
According to the Sunday Telegraph:
The incident will fuel fears that ‘no-go areas’ for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed.
Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, both full-time evangelical ministers, have now launched legal action against West Midlands Police, claiming the officer infringed their right to profess their religion.
Abraham said:
I couldn’t believe this was happening in Britain. The Bishop of Rochester was criticised by the Church of England recently when he said there were no-go areas in Britain but he was right; there are certainly no-go areas for Christians who want to share the gospel.
Last night, Christian campaigners described the officer’s behaviour as “deeply alarming”.
The preachers were handing out leaflets on Alum Rock Road in February when they started talking to four Asian youths.
A police community support officer (PCSO) interrupted the conversation and began questioning the ministers about their beliefs.
They said when the officer realised they were American, although both have lived in Britain for many years, he launched a tirade against President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cunningham said:
I told him that this had nothing to do with the gospel we were preaching but he became very aggressive. He said we were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message. He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station.
The ministers claim he also advised them not to return to the area. As he walked away, the PCSO said:
You have been warned. If you come back here and get beaten up, well, you have been warned.
West Midlands Police, architects of the Undercover Mosque fiasco, refused to apologise. They said the incident had been “fully investigated” and the officer would be given training in understanding hate crime and communication.
UPDATE – June 3, 2008: Christian Voice Attention-Seeker-in-Chief – Stephen Green – is now in full confrontation mode, and he and his cohorts are planning an infestation of the Alum Rock area of Birmingham on Saturday, June 14, to distribute their vile evangelical literature among the Muslims.
Said Green:
By the grace of God, this no-go area for the Gospel will be challenged.
What a shame there are no seagulls in Birmingam!
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
June 1st, 2008 at 4:49 pm
‘…the officer would be given training in understanding hate crime and communication.’
Or a lesson in how, over several hundred years, some noble people fought (and died) for free speech. And that includes free speech for evangelical bores, bigoted Muslims and all the rest.
June 1st, 2008 at 7:32 pm
This article hits several good points all at once, well done.
First off, it highlights the shambles that PCSO’s really are. Get rid of them and get more real policement out on the streets. PCSO’s are generally uniformed thugs mixed with cretins who cant get a real job.
Secondly the whole idea that people are commiting a hate crime by preaching is mind boggling. Granted if these two twerps came to my door there is a reasonable chance they would have to leave or be beaten but that is because I am a ratty atheist. This is the (obvious) outcome of the weird legislation we have in the UK. You can almost pity the PCSO (who I suspect is too close a member of this community to properly police them), given the chaotic state of “Free Speech” in the UK today…
June 4th, 2008 at 10:24 am
The following is from an article by Michele Hanson in The Guardian yesterday 3rd June. It is classic Orwellian Doublethink (rather than Hypocrisy). If push comes to shove, guess who will be more likely to fight against the imposition of Islamic fascism – Evangelical preachers or Guardian journalists?
“Two American Christian preachers have been told off by a community police officer for preaching in a Muslim area of Birmingham. Good. If only preachers were banned everywhere. The Jews don’t try to convert anyone. They are not at all keen on converts, so perhaps preachers should take a leaf out of their book, because no one likes to be told that their beliefs are rubbish and someone else’s are better. Is there anything more annoying than people coming to your street or your house uninvited and pushing their ideas down your throat? I was trained from an early age to detest it. My father would open the door and my mother would throw tennis balls at them from behind him – an unconventional but effective response.
The two rejected Birmingham preachers have been moaning about human rights and their freedom of expression, but preaching and American missionary-style “spreading God’s word” is more about bossing than expressing. They’re convinced they’re right. But does anyone dare tell them off? Off they go, all over the world, come across a culture that’s minding its own business, with its own perfectly adequate belief system, and insist on imposing their own ideas. What a cheek. Who am I to criticize? I must practice what I preach. So believe what you like, everyone, but leave the rest of us alone. We can make our own minds up.”
Rory