For preaching the Gospel.
How bad have things become for religious freedom in the U.K.? How bullying have the police become in hounding Christian preachers off the streets? This bad: Lifesite News reported Tuesday that “a pastor was arrested in London for criticizing the violence of Islam as he preached the Gospel in the street.”
Is Islam a violent religion? A reading of the Qur’an and the hadith, both of which encourage violence against all non-Muslims, would certainly support that conclusion. And the violent behavior of so many Muslims, against both non-Muslims and against rival sects of Muslims, offers further support.
The pastor compared Islam with Christianity’s message —which those who call themselves Christians do not always follow — of peace, and claimed that Islam was a violent religion. Was his expressing his opinion an offense against the law? The pastor, Steve Maile, did not preach hatred for Muslims. He simply offered his opinion that, after studying the texts and tenets of Islam, and the observable behavior of Muslims around the world, he found it reasonable to conclude that Islam is “a violent religion.”
“It’s called inciting religious hatred — which is false,” Mailesaid. “The cross of Christ is a message of hope, love, mercy, and reconciliation to a fallen world. … How could that be hate?”Indeed. Maile “had been peacefully singing and preaching for around 10 minutes … calling people to repentance” and “discussing whether Islam is a religion of peace” when he was arrested. “He criticised the history of violent Islam but said he had compassion and wanted Muslims to be saved by Jesus.”
Also, “video footage of Maile’s arrest shows an officer telling the pastor there was an allegation he had assaulted a child.” A preposterous charge, which the police made up out of whole cloth to justify their treatment of Paster Maile. It was immediately dropped once he had been cuffed and taken to the station.
Maile declared: “There is no offence being committed here. None whatsoever. This is an utter disgrace. I’ve not assaulted anyone.” However, it is also illegal in the U.K. to use “threatening or abusive words or behavior, or disorderly behavior” in front of someone who is “likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.”
Did the pastor use “threatening or abusive words or behavior” or display “disorderly behavior”? There is no mention of any. He was preaching the Gospel, not shouting it out, not grabbing people by the lapels and forcing them to stop and listen, because if he had done any of that, the police would have reported it. It’s clear that the police were enforcing an irrelevant regulation in order to shut down someone who, according to some quick-to-anger thin-skinned Muslims, caused them “harassment, alarm, or distress.” --->READ MORE HERE
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| Andrew Medina/Getty Images |
Steve Maile was handcuffed and detained for 12 hours, faces public order offense charge
A 66-year-old U.K. pastor arrested while street preaching in London, said he is facing hate speech-related charges for preaching the Bible and speaking out against Islam.
"It's called inciting religious hatred — which is false," Pastor Steve Maile told Fox News Digital. "The cross of Christ is a message of hope, love, mercy, and reconciliation to a fallen world... How could that be hate?"
Maile is a gospel singer and the senior pastor of Oasis City Church in Watford, England, a town outside London. For 45 years, the New Zealand native has preached and performed mission work globally. He told Fox News Digital that he often performs famous songs with lyrics altered to convey a Christian message.
However, a complaint led to his arrest while he was preaching on a high street in Watford on April 18. According to the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Maile's case, he was singing and preaching a gospel message for about 10 minutes when he discussed Islam's history of violence and called on Muslims to be saved by Jesus.
Video footage of the incident, first reported by Britannia Daily, shows Maile being approached and handcuffed behind his back by Hertfordshire Constabulary officers. One officer tells Maile he is being arrested on allegations of assaulting a child.
As he was handcuffed, Maile continued to preach and insisted no crimes had been committed.
"You repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you’ll be saved," he told the officers. "I have not assaulted anyone. Take these off now! Take these off in the name of Jesus."
A female police officer appeared to mockingly respond, "In the name of Jesus, get in the car."
Maile told Fox News Digital that his wife and children watched him preach and filmed the encounter. He said he was shocked by his treatment in custody after decades of ministry.
"Literally, in seconds, I mean, they didn't even talk to me or warn me or read me my rights," he told Fox News Digital. "I was double handcuffed. In excruciating pain because these double handcuffs are pretty horrendous things. I was literally in shock. I thought, goodness, what have I done? What's going on?" --->READ MORE HERE
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