American Street Preacher Arrested in Scotland for Anti-homosexual Statements – Fined 1,000 Pounds Sterling

What does the Islamic world and Europe have in common? There are actually many similarities, but one is this: in neither place are Christians allowed to fully express their beliefs without fear of persecution.

As for Eurasia, its Ministry of Truth”s latest handiwork is the arrest and punishment of an American street preacher who dared speak of sin in that land once known as Scotland. The victim is 47-year-old New Yorker Shawn Holes, who was on a UK tour when he was arrested in Glasgow after running afoul of UK hate-speech laws. Writes  Pink News:

He said that while preaching, a number of gay couples stopped to listen and asked him about his views, which he said seemed like a “set-up”.

€¦When asked about his views on homosexuality, Holes said: “Homosexuals are deserving of the wrath of God ” and so are all other sinners ” and they are going to a place called hell.”
For this Oldspeak transgression, Holes” arrest was followed by the imposition of a £1,000 fine, which is a harsher penalty than even some Britons who commit violent crimes must endure.

I”ve  said much  about “hate speech” laws over the years, and I won”t rehash the old arguments except to again point out that all hate-crime law is an attempt at thought control. Instead, I”m going to point out another bias relating to this situation and others like it.

At a UK blog called Harry”s place, writer Peter Tatchell defends Holes,  saying, “[ I ]n a democratic, free society it is wrong to prosecute him. Criminalisation is not appropriate.” Yet he also takes pains to polish up his politically correct credentials and writes, “Mr  Holes is obviously homophobic and should not be insulting people with his anti-gay tirades. He should be challenged and people should protest against his intolerance.” And this attitude is reflected in the title of Tatchell”s piece: “Freedom of speech must be defended €¦ even for homophobes.”

Please click here to read more.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This article contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond “fair use”, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.