Christian preachers face arrest for passing out leaflets in Muslim neighbourhood (3 Viewers)

[chicky_pie]

A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham.

The evangelists say they were threatened with arrest for committing a "hate crime" and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. 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 in The Sunday Telegraph this year.

Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, both full-time evangelical ministers, have launched legal action against West Midlands Police, claiming the officer infringed their right to profess their religion.

Mr 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, both ministers in Birmingham, 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.

Mr 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 preacher refused to give the PCSO his address because he felt the officer's manner was "threatening and intimidating".

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, who refused to apologise, said the incident had been "fully investigated" and the officer would be given training in understanding hate crime and communication.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...chers-to-leave-Muslin-area-of-Birmingham.html

Two silly Christian preachers have been threatened with hate crime charges for passing out Christian literature in Muslim neighbourhoods. No, this didn't happen in Saudi Arabia or Iran....it happened in England, lol.

 

[Iron]

Rookie cop

 

[ari89]

Reminds me of this

A football fan says police ordered him to remove an England flag from his car – because it could be deemed racist.
Ben Smith, 18, was pulled over for a routine spot check by an officer who inspected his tyres and road tax.
But the labourer was stunned to be told that a St George flag covering his Vauxhall Corsa’s parcel shelf was offensive to immigrants.
He initially thought the officer was joking until he was threatened with a £30 fine if he refused to remove it from view.

 

[PrinceHarry]

Disgusting muslims arent they. I am not surprised Britain is dumping the Nu Labour in last month's Local Election, cant wait to see the Conservative Party leading the mighty Great Britain once again.

 

[Stevo.]

I hate the fact that England is increasingly bowing down to the silly PC bullshit concerns of a backward religion.

 

[TacoTerrorist]

Stevo and PrinceHarry are you both trolls or just really, really ignorant and stupid?

 

[ari89]

^that's exactly how I feel about you!

 

[JaredR]

These charges are rediculous. Of course it is insensitive to proselytise Christianity in a predominately Jewish/Muslim/Non-Christian neighbourhood and often the tactics used by these evangelists are deceitful and manipulative. Regardless the law is not designed to protect one religion from learning about/knowing that another religion in fact exists.

England is a free society similar to Australia: I don't complain when Jehova's Witnesses stop me in the street nor when some Taoists or whatever they are give me a little book of their beliefs. I don't call the police on them nor do I threaten, abuse or assault them.

And on a side note...I read somewhere that Mohamed is the second most popular name in England.

 

[raven2000]

omg wow. A stupid officer telling of christian preachers somehow reflects a religion of a billion people? That means we can assume christianity is to blame every time a christian commits a crime such as rape or murder. nice thinking.

 

[kaz1]

Probably the equivilant of muslim missonaries going around in Camden.

 

[Stevo.]

The worst Christians could do would be to burn you alive or rape your children behind your backs.

The worst Muslims could do would be to rape the world of everything and send us back to the prehistoric ages.

 

[TacoTerrorist]

Thanks for proving the latter part of my previous assertion Stevo you fucking idiot.

 

[wrxsti]

God why are you muslims so insecure about your faith.

lol, whenever a little piece of media depicts islam, its posted on BOS.

very very say people, you guys are insecure about your own religion, trying to make yourselves feel good about your religion when you degrad Islam.

We know we are the most powerful religion in faith, and sadly you guys feel inferior, its the reason why you all degrad a religion you know nothing about.

air89/ wtf are you talking about, i love religion, ive got a degree in B Religion, majoring in islam, i know about the religion.

schroedinger/ im an atheist, but im to scared to admit it, so i tell people that im not into religion.

 

[ari89]

lol, whenever a little piece of media depicts islam, its posted on BOS.

That's a lie and you know it. If we did there'd be an average of 7 terrorist attacks committed in the name of Islam posted per day as well as hundreds of examples of human rights abuses.

 

[justanotherposter]

ok, this is fucking stupid. If anyone wants to preach any religion in any area, they should be allowed to. They are doing nothing wrong and it's because of stupid stunts like these that the Islamic community is vilified. GROW THE FUCK UP, don't moan and bitch because a minister stepped on 'your turf'. I dont believe i'm saying the following statement but it applies here...
don't like it? GET THE FUCK OUT and go back to where you came from. offence intended.

on the flip side.. the other side of the arguement has princeharry and stevo both of whom seem like stooges that blindly follow what they've been told by the media and i doubt either of them know Islam to any degree of depth. And ofcourse ari, who is ready to take a stab at islam (because thats what jews are bred to do?) at every chance he gets.

 

[ari89]

And ofcourse ari, who is ready to take a stab at islam (because thats what jews are bred to do?) at every chance he gets.

I criticise people getting murdered in the name of Allah the most gracious the most merciful as per the instructions of Muhammad (pbuh) and I'm branded a zionist/jew/pagan/hater etc.

Seriously, if you do not see a problem with people getting murdered for not sharing your religious beliefs you are a F***EN IDIOT. (Yes, there is no subtle way to put it)

 

[justanotherposter]

Look, we've had this fucking argument 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times, where everyone says "DON"T LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN DON'T GUESS THE MEDIA JUST LOOK JUST LOOK WE'RE PEACEFUL THEREFORE HUMANITY IS PEACEFUL." That argument doesn't work. The media isn't in some giant anti-islamic conspiracy, they're reporting that religions are involved in propagating a great deal of human suffering.

hmmmm.. wow, so.. you think that the media doesn't sensationalise at all? everything on FOX news is 100% correct? That everything you watch on Today Tonight is true? lol..
No journalism is 100% accurate and there is always sensationalism. Every journalist is a victim of their own prejudices. This can be extended to networks who will willingly just critise islam because it's what the public is used to and it will give them ratings.

How are we to judge any collective except by the actions of those who swear their lives by it? If you can think of a much better alternative, please tell us, I'm dying to know!

Judge the religion by those who follow it correctly, not by those who are going are around blowing shit up.

He's not Jewish you stupid fuck. Where has he said he's Jewish. Saying Jews are BRED to stab at islam shows how corrupted and racially biased your pathetic mind is.

did not see the question mark? it was a joke you idiot.

I criticise people getting murdered in the name of Allah the most gracious the most merciful as per the instructions of Muhammad (pbuh) and I'm branded a zionist/jew/pagan/hater etc.

Seriously, if you do not see a problem with people getting murdered for not sharing your religious beliefs you are a FUCKEN IDIOT. (Yes, there is no subtle way to put it)

wow - you really aren't that smart are you? did you read my previous comment? i obviously support freedom of speech and thought the ministers were in the right. you sir, are a FUCKEN IDIOT. (Yes, there is no subtle way to put it)

lol i've read a lot of threads, you bring up Islam where unnecessary and then the topic spirals out of control and it just turns into a battle of racist slurs.

 

[ari89]

Judge the religion by those who follow it correctly, not by those who are going are around blowing shit up.

Yeah! Don't judge Islam by the terrorists committing violent acts in the name of the religion and spreading it to ensure a global caliphate!

Judge it on those who follow it correctly.
Like those who kill the apostates!

 

[justanotherposter]

Yeah! Don't judge Islam by the terrorists committing violent acts in the name of the religion and spreading it to ensure a global caliphate!

Judge it on those who follow it correctly.
Like those who kill the apostates!

i'm gonna go and torch my local uh.. school(?) (w/e, doesn't make a difference) in the name of scientology. Now imagine judging the entire faith, including the followers, on my actions.

i lol'd at the second part though.

I still see these same vile acts and this same strong condemnation of the acts on Al Jazeera [Which is second only to BBC world in news sources that I almost implicitly trust].

And you see no difference at all between how it is portrayed in Al Jazeera (which i also get, i have a dish that picks up al jazeera int on ASIASAT3) and how it is portrayed in lets say..seven news?

Are you that conceited that you think those who condemn the actions of murderers have a lack of KNOWLEDGE on the fact, and those that condemn the contents of your religion do so out of pure bigotry?

hmm funny how you put me down for assuming ari was jewish when you are assuming i'm a muslim.. and in response - i don't follow any religion. I'm not even sure if i believe in god, though majority of the time i do. hmm - the word Hypocrite comes to mind.

you actually seemed o.k.. till i read

your stock standard islamic individual is substantially more likely to blow others up

made me lol for a while. same stats, christians are more likely to launch crusades, jews are more likely to start building houses on land they don't own etc etc.

 

[ari89]

jews are more likely to start building houses on land they don't own etc etc.

Like the Muslims stealing Hindu land in Bangledash, or Albanian Muslims declaring Kosovo's independence!

OH SNAP!