Muslims are a mission field for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ but when they gain political office in a Western nation and continue to hold Islamic political beliefs they are a threat to freedom. However, that doesn’t bother many for ‘Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden vowed Muslim Americans would be included in every social and political aspect in his administration, and reiterated his pledge to repeal President Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban” on his first day in office.’https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/joe-biden-muslim-advocates-donald-trump-ban
Muslims
All posts tagged Muslims
Recently in France a teacher was beheaded by a follower of Islam for simply showing caricatures of Mohammad. Do those authorities within French Islam condemn such an act of murder? No, it was ‘condoned by imams who had called [the beheaded teacher] Paty “delinquent”.’
- “This is not an act of ‘separatism’, it is a declaration of war that must be dealt with accordingly”. — Pascal Bruckner, French author.
- France’s elites… fail to understand the ideological war that the enemies of open societies have declared on them. You can see it from the targets of the attacks by extremists: Jews, a priest, cartoonists, tourists, ordinary people, policemen, now a teacher.
- An entire community of immigrants, who enjoyed all the freedoms we had granted them, ambushed him…. It is a racism condoned by imams who had called [the beheaded teacher] Paty “delinquent”.
- “[T]here is the continuity of our submission. I am convinced that if we had known how to say no, we would not be here. They all bowed their heads out of fear of appearing racist or out of patronage.” — Élisabeth Badinter, author, Le Point, October 16, 2020.
- If the French authorities do not take the many warnings to heart, even after a school teacher was beheaded in broad daylight by a terrorist shouting “Allahu Akbar”, it means that the fight is over and they might as well raise a white flag over the Eiffel Tower.’https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16659/western-lives-matter
I have never been to Lewiston, ME and hopefully never will. This is a frightful story concerning Democrats, Somalians and Lewiston politics .
‘After returning to Lewiston several years ago, I was shocked to hear firsthand account after firsthand account of violence, theft, destruction of property, etc. committed by roving gangs of immigrant boys, gang bullying episodes–swept under the carpet by administrations–in all pubic schools to the point that parents have taken their kids out of schools, and much more.’
‘You may have read about a Somali immigrant, Safiya Khalid, running for city council in Lewiston? While numerous media reports celebrated her victory, they declined to mention that her campaign had ruthlessly bullied her opponent under
Khalid’s Opponent Walter Hill
cover of darkness at his own home, in an effort to intimidate him into withdrawing from the race.
Even though there are *audio tapes* of the harassment, Khalid’s campaign *got away with it*, thanks to extensive media manipulation and a smear campaign to try to transform outcry against the bullying into an act of “racism”.
The bullies, and Safiya herself, were and still are the top officers of the Lewiston Democratic Party, as well as local elected officials. When I found out about this bullying, my first action was to ask the victim–who was then in the hospital–if it was true. He told me it was, and gave me the recordings. When I raised the alarm to my fellow local Democrats and Khalid herself–giving them the benefit of the doubt that they didn’t know–they personally attacked *me* for telling them.’ https://fraudscrookscriminals.com/2020/03/09/lewiston-me-the-back-story-on-the-election-of-a-cair-candidate-for-city-council/
You may follow this story on video at Lewiston First Media https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCPIx_H6ypUVxZX2l73UyFA/videos
Unbelievable, or is it!?
‘Paris, April 4, 2017. Sarah Halimi, a 66-year-old Jewish woman, is thrown from her third-floor balcony or window. Her body lands in the building’s courtyard. Her murderer first had tortured her. Neighbors had heard screams and called the police. Nine officers came, but when they heard through the door a man shouting “Allahu Akbar”, they ran downstairs to wait for reinforcements. When Kobili Traoré finally surrendered, he said, “I killed the sheitan” (Arabic for “Satan”). While torturing his victim, he said, he had recited verses from the Qur’an, and the Qur’an had “ordered him to kill a Jew”. He said he had spent the previous day in a nearby mosque. He was placed in a mental institution, where he told the psychiatrist who examined him that he smoked marijuana.
The murder was not mentioned in the newspapers. A French Jewish organizations spoke of a “distressing anti-Semitic crime” and organized a silent demonstration in front of Halimi’s building. It was only then that a few articles were written. The French presidential election was about to take place, and journalists from the mainstream media apparently did not want to speak about an anti-Semitic murder committed by a Muslim.
The judge assigned to the case, Anne Ihuellou, at first refused to acknowledge that the murder had been a hate crime. It took the Halimi family’s lawyers more than six months to get her finally to concede, on February 27, 2018, that the motive for the murder had in fact been anti-Semitic.
The judge also refused to organize a review of the events of the case, and agreed to question Traoré only briefly. She called in a psychiatric expert, Daniel Zagury, who said that at the time of the act, the murderer had been in a state of “acute delirium” due to the consumption of cannabis, but fully “accessible to a penal sanction.” Seemingly dissatisfied with Dr. Zagury’s conclusions, Judge Ihuellou asked for two more opinions by experts — both of whom, contradicting Dr. Zagury’s conclusions, said that the Traoré was unfit to stand trial.
On July 12, 2019, the judge dismissed Dr. Zagury’s report, declared that there are “plausible reasons for concluding that the murderer is not criminally responsible” and stated that the attack had not been anti-Semitic.
Realizing that Traoré could soon be released without trial, the Halimi family’s lawyers requested that the case immediately be transferred to a court of appeals.
That court, issuing its decision on December 19, declared that Kobili Traoré had “voluntarily killed” Sarah Halimi and had thereby committed a murder. The court also acknowledged the “aggravating circumstance of anti-Semitism,” but added that due to a “temporary abolition of discernment,” the murderer was “criminally irresponsible,” could not be tried, and therefore had to be released.’ https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15448/france-jews-murder
Sometimes when one looks at the situation in which we find the world we lose sight of what God has promised in His to do in the future. For instance, ‘During the time of the first half of the seven-year tribulation period; the godless gentile world will be seeking the complete annihilation and destruction of the Jews, the nation of Israel and Almighty God’s Two Witnesses (Dan. 9:27, Ezek. 38-39, Rev. 11:3-14). It will be – after the murder and resuscitation of the Two Witnesses of Almighty God (Rev. 11:3-14) – that Almighty God’s newly chosen army of 144,000 BELIEVING evangelical Jews – in the Messiah of Israel – will GO FORTH into the entire world giving the Gospel of Salvation unto ALL gentiles nations including Iran (Matt. 24:14, Acts 17:30-31, Rev. 7:9-10)! One particular group which these newly BELIEVING Jews will seek to reach will be their arch-enemy of whatever remains of the one billion individuals of Islam up to this point, whose zeal and hostility toward Israel at present and then will be raging! These Jewish evangelists (during this time) will be sealed by Almighty God for a great Divine task (Rev. 7:1-10)! These redeemed messengers of Almighty God – in the PERFECT love of the Messiah – will lead countless individuals from among the nations including Iran to the ETERNAL saving knowledge of the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the World (Gen. 18:8, 22:18, 26:4, Matt 24:14, John 3:16-17, Gal. 3:8). What is most amazing is that a great number of these individuals who come to a saving knowledge of Messiah Jesus – at this time – will be those of the shattered Muslim faith (Rev. 7)!
Today, Islamic nations completely surround and engulf the land of Israel. Again it will be during this time of the horrific seven-year tribulation period (Rev.6-16), that countless followers of Islam will abandon their fallen spiritual ideology for HEAVENLY REALITY and RIGHTEOUSNESS (Rom. 10:2-4)! They will OPEN their hearts and minds and cast off their oppressive Islamic ideological shackles and will come to FULLY acknowledge the RIGHTEOUS REALITY that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) of Israel IS the ONLY Savior and Propitiation of the world (Gen. 18:8, 22:18, 26:4, John 3:16-17, Gal. 3:8)! When these Muslim individuals come to see this REALITY for all that it is worth, they will be radically transformed and will worship and serve Almighty God their Creator in RIGHTEOUSNESS, SPIRIT, and TRUTH (John 4:24, 17:17)! They will love NOT their lives unto death and will profess to their fellow Muslim brethren that Jesus Messiah SAVES (delivers) alone (Rev.12:11)!’
Today, Islamic nations completely surround and engulf the land of Israel. Again it will be 
during this time of the horrific seven-year tribulation period (Rev.6-16), that countless followers of Islam will abandon their fallen spiritual ideology for HEAVENLY REALITY and RIGHTEOUSNESS (Rom. 10:2-4)! They will OPEN their hearts and minds and cast off their oppressive Islamic ideological shackles and will come to FULLY acknowledge the RIGHTEOUS REALITY that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) of Israel IS the ONLY Savior and Propitiation of the world (Gen. 18:8, 22:18, 26:4, John 3:16-17, Gal. 3:8)! When these Muslim individuals come to see this REALITY for all that it is worth, they will be radically transformed and will worship and serve Almighty God their Creator in RIGHTEOUSNESS, SPIRIT, and TRUTH (John 4:24, 17:17)! They will love NOT their lives unto death and will profess to their fellow Muslim brethren that Jesus Messiah SAVES (delivers) alone (Rev.12:11)! The entire article is worth reading and may be read at https://www.theignorantfishermen.com/
Is there an Islamist nation on this earth where a Christian is as free to be a Christian as they are in Australia or the USA? I think not! Some years ago we had a couple move to Saudi Arabia for his job and they couldn’t take a Bible or the material their children used in our church youth programme. Not much freedom of religion there and yet the leftists are as quiet as a church mouse on this. Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, president of the International American Council on the Middle East, says;
- ‘Three of the Islamist judges known to preside over the trials of Christians are Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, Mohammed Moghiseh, and Ahmad Zargar. The international community needs to consider imposing sanctions on them.
- Converts to Christianity from Islam, according the Iran’s Islamic law, can face the death penalty. The Iranian Islamist judges generally resort to verses from the Quran and Hadith (Muhammad’s sayings and acts) to justify their verdicts.
- Iran systematically violates the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act and this is why, since 1999, the U.S. has designated the Islamic Republic as a “Country of Concern.”
- Under international law, the Iranian government has an obligation to respect freedom of religion. Yet, while Christians are being increasingly persecuted and their rights are violated in Iran at an unprecedented level, the international community still remains silent.
- The Islamic Republic of Iran is unleashing a sweeping crackdown on Christians, particularly those who have dared to convert from Islam to Christianity.
Most recently, nine Christians in Iran, possibly converts, have been convicted by the Islamic court, and each sentenced to five years in prison. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested them for attending church services at a private house. According to a report by Article 18, an Iranian NGO which promotes religious freedom:
“The arresting officers introduced themselves as agents from the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS).
“They stormed the Christians’ homes in a coordinated operation at around 9am, confiscating Bibles, Christian literature, wooden crosses and pictures carrying Christian symbols, along with laptops, phones, all forms of identity cards, bank cards and other personal belongings.
“Arresting agents also searched the work offices of at least two Christians and confiscated computer hard drives and security-camera recordings.”
Christian families are generally dehumanized and humiliated in the community during the agent’s raids. As the Article 18 report explained, “The officers are reported to have treated the Christians harshly, even though small children were present during the arrests.”
Across Iran, Christians are being arrested and jailed on trumped-up charges, such as “promoting Zionism”, “spreading corrupt Christians beliefs”, “propagating against the Islamic Republic in favor of Christianity”, “orientation toward the land of Christianity,” or “endangering national security”. Open Doors USA stated that one particular charge — “acting against national security” — is often used by the Iranian authorities “to prosecute Christians for their house church activities.”
The claim of Iranian leaders that the peaceful religious practices of a minority group pose a grave a threat to national security is totally unacceptable. Iran’s total population is roughly 80 million, with anywhere between 117,000 and 3 million being Christian, according to various estimates. Even though Christians make up an extremely small part of the population, however, they have always been viewed, under the Islamic law of Iran, as a threat to “national security”.
The activities of Christians in the Islamic Republic are closely monitored by the Iranian intelligence service (MOIS) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG). They are not permitted to share their faith with others or to conduct church services in Farsi, Iran’s national language.
It is important to hold accountable those Iranian individuals and institutions who are responsible for persecuting Christians.
Three of the Islamist judges known to preside over the trials of Christians are Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, Mohammed Moghiseh, and Ahmad Zargar. The international community needs to consider imposing sanctions on them
The NGO International Christian Concern (ICC) submitted the names of these judges to the US Treasury for consideration of sanctions. ICC stated:
“These three Revolutionary Court judges, and Evin Prison, have a long record of human rights abuses toward Iranian Christians. The judges are responsible for convicting Christians on trumped up charges. They wield Iran’s legal system as a systemic tool of repression against religious minorities. Often, when Christians stand firm in their faith, Iran’s judges send them to the notorious Evin Prison, located on the outskirts of Tehran. Stories of those who survived Evin Prison are heartbreaking; the wide variety of abuse faced by inmates is chilling.”
Converts to Christianity from Islam, according the Iran’s Islamic law, can face the death penalty. The Iranian Islamist judges generally resort to verses from the Quran and Hadith (Muhammad’s sayings and acts) to justify their verdicts. One particular verse in Qur’an states:
“They wish you would disbelieve as they disbelieved so you would be alike. So do not take from among them allies until they emigrate for the cause of Allah. But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them and take not from among them any ally or helper.” (Qur’an 4:89)
A hadith attributed to Muhammad says: “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him”.
Even though the international community labels the government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as a moderate administration, and even though Rouhani claims that the Islamic Republic treats all religions justly and fairly, Iran is one of the worst places in the world for Christians. According to the World Watch List compiled by Open Doors USA, Iran is currently ranked as the ninth-worst country for faith-based persecution. Iran systematically violates the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act and this is why, since 1999, the U.S. has designated the Islamic Republic as a “Country of Concern.”
Under international law, the Iranian government has an obligation to respect freedom of religion. Yet, while Christians are being increasingly persecuted and their rights are violated in Iran at an unprecedented level, the international community still remains silent.’ https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15229/iran-christians-persecution
The whole story may be read at https://www.churchinchains.ie/prisoner-profiles/bakhrom-kholmatov/
I have been to the Trader Joe’s which is near my daughter’s house in Atlanta. If I am ever again there I will be sure to purchase some Israeli made ‘Pastures of Eden’ feta cheese! Why?
Because it is one of many items on the BDS not to buy list of Israeli products. You see; ‘Trader Joe’s Israeli made “Pastures of Eden” feta cheese has been on the BDS list for quite some time. BDS has called upon its supporters to boycott the cheese because it is owned by the Tnuva group, the largest dairy producer in Israel.
A Muslim lecturer at UC Berkeley has taken heed to the call by tagging renowned anti-Semite activist Linda Sarsour in his Facebook post which petitions for locals to stop shopping at Trader Joe’s.
“Trader Joe’s is having Israeli Feta on its shelves! One more reason to stop shopping at the store,” Hatem Bazian wrote last week.
Israeli Hater & Muslim propagandist Hatem Bazian
Joe Zevuloni, who heads the “Israeli Army of Publicity” organization, took to Facebook on Tuesday to defend the Jewish State’s cheese.
“This Israel-hating anti-Semitic professor from UC Berkeley tagged Linda Sarsour in his post and called on everyone to boycott Trader Joe’s supermarket chain because it sells Israeli feta cheese,” Zevuloni wrote in one post.
“Go to his page and don’t forget to tell him thank-you for the fact that in his merit, we’ll all buy specifically from a brand that sells Israeli products. Tag the Population and Immigration Authority in your comments and help me show him Israel just in Google. Then “like” this post and share, if you’re with me. Am Israel hai (literally: the nation of Israel lives on)!” he wrote in another post.
The call to counter the boycott worked, according to Israeli news site Arutz7. Pro-Israeli customers cleared off the shelves and then moved on to buy other Israeli products.
Zevoluni also shared a video of a store manager at a Florida based Trader Joe’s happily restocking the delicious Israeli made feta cheese.’ https://worldisraelnews.com/trader-joe-boycott-fizzles-as-pro-israel-customers-buy-out-chains-israeli-cheese/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=
No churches are allowed in Saudi Arabia or any totalitarian Islamic nation but these warped thinking Muslims believe they should be able to build a mosque on the very site where jihad Muslims murdered thousands of innocent people!
Now, Pamela Geller writes that, ‘The news was buried under two dense paragraphs and five large photos in an article in New York YIMBY about a different project: “Construction has also yet to begin on 51 Park Place, which is slated to become a 71-foot-tall, 16,000-square-foot Islamic cultural center.” The infamous Ground Zero Mosque project, a long buried effort to build a triumphal mosque at the site of the worst jihad terror attack in American history, is back.
Construction has yet to begin, but it will: the shady developer behind the Ground Zero Mosque scheme, Sharif El-Gamal, has been working to build this sinister structure for years.
We defeated the Ground Zero Mosque project once before. The 16-story mosque that El-Gamal initially planned to build there has not been built. Our efforts in showing what an insult it was to the American people and to the victims of 9/11, and how many Muslims worldwide would inevitably view it as a triumphal mosque built on the site of a jihad attack, defeated it. Tens of thousands of people came out for our rallies in lower Manhattan against this celebration of this 9/11 attacks, and El-Gamal was beaten in the court of public opinion.
It was a long battle. President Obama announced his support for the mosque at an Iftar dinner, no less. Then-mayor of New York City and current presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg supported the mosque as well, claiming hysterically that “if we don’t
President Obama (first US Muslim President) delivered remarks at a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan. CreditLuke Sharrett/The New York Times
build it, the terrorists will win!” The media actively campaigned for it — the elites in their increasingly fragile ivory towers relentlessly stumped for the Cordoba mosque (euphemistically called an Islamic center with a prayer space) for years.
And yet despite all this opposition and much more, the people stood up and fought the Ground Zero Mosque and won. An army of Davids.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. Crains New York reported on El-Gamal’s new project in 2015 in a story that demonstrated how the developer was hoping to sneak his triumphal mosque into existence: “Mr. El-Gamal’s Soho Properties has proposed a 667-foot condominium tower at lower Manhattan’s 45 Park Place. The glass skyscraper, which has yet to break ground, will include at least 15 full-floor units of 3,200 to 3,700 square feet, and average prices higher than $3,000 a square foot, according to plans released to Bloomberg by the developer.”
That sounded normal enough. But then the article added: “Adjacent to the tower, Soho Properties will build a public plaza connected to a three-story Islamic museum and prayer space.” An Islamic prayer space is a mosque. The article also said: “An Islamic museum ‘is just as much of an insult,’ Pamela Geller, a blogger and one of the center’s most vocal opponents, wrote in an email. ‘It will be like having a museum touting the glories of the Japanese Empire at Pearl Harbor.'”
I think an Islamic museum at Ground Zero dedicated to the half-billion victims of jihadi wars, land appropriations, sharia, cultural annihilations, enslavements, and sharia enforcement is an excellent idea, but is that what Sharif El-Gamal had in mind? Of course not. And how did El-Gamal plan to finance this? The answer was predictable. The New York Post reported in May 2016 that “the developer of the failed Ground Zero Mosque has nailed down ‘Sharia-compliant financing’ for a new, luxury condominium tower and Islamic cultural museum on the same site, he and his banking partners said.”
Then in May 2017, the New York Times ran a story entitled “Condo Tower to Rise Where Muslim Community Center Was Proposed.” The Times said that “45 Park Place, a 43-story condominium that will soon rise three blocks from the World Trade Center,” was “something of a consolation prize for the developer,” as it “replaces the developer’s 2010 plan to build a 15-story Islamic mosque and cultural center on this site, an idea that erupted into a national controversy and cable news network bonanza.”
In the last couple of years, there has been virtually no news about this “Islamic museum.” But the New York YIMBY story shows that the project has been advancing under cover of darkness. A 71-foot-tall structure is three stories high, as in the revised plans announced in 2015.
El-Gamal has many friends and allies among New York City’s political and media elites. It is likely that de Blasio city officials and the New York Times and other city papers all met with El-Gamal and agreed to keep the reporting on this project to an absolute minimum, so that it could get built without incurring the righteous anger of the public again. The first time around, they courted publicity and tried to make El-Gamal a hero. We demolished that and destroyed their plans. So now they’ve clearly decided to go ahead surreptitiously.
It is disgusting that El-Gamal continues to taunt Americans and poke at America’s most egregious recent memory. El-Gamal was there when we had tens of thousands in the streets opposing his Ground Zero mosque. He knows how angry and upset people get at these Islamic structures on the site of jihad war. The 9/11 Muslim terrorists extolled Allah no fewer than 90 times in their last letters. Will those letters be on display at this Islamic cultural center/museum?
There is an important lesson to be learned here — and one we would be wise to adopt. They never stop. No matter how absolutely they lose, how many setbacks they suffer, they keep on pursuing their supremacist goals.
The Ground Zero Mosque project was and is a middle finger to the American people. There has never been a mosque of reconciliation and healing built on the site of a jihadi attack. Ever. It is, on the other hand, an Islamic pattern to build triumphal mosques on the cherished sites of conquered lands. History is riddled with triumphal mosques built on the sites of jihad attacks or appropriated from other religions: the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque on the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, and innumerable mosques built on the sites of Hindu temples that were demolished by Muslims all attest to that.
And now it looks as if Sharif El-Gamal is going to be able to build his own triumphal mosque at Ground Zero after all.’ https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/12/the_ground_zero_mosque_project_is_back.html
Good News out of the UK on the Freedom not only to speech but to preach Christ.
‘Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, a Christian street preacher has been offered £2,500 in exemplary damages from the Metropolitan Police in relation to his false arrest, imprisonment and unlawful detention.
In February, a video showing the aggressive arrest of Pastor Oluwole Ilesanmi (64) was 
watched by millions around the world, prompting outrage. Officers were shown forcibly handcuffing the preacher, claiming that he was breaching the peace and had made “Islamophobic comments”.
A petition was quickly launched calling on the Home Secretary to investigate the guidance and training given to police officers nationwide on the freedom to preach in public.
Marking the resolution of his case, Pastor Oluwole will deliver the petition, now with over 38,000 signatures, this Tuesday (30 July) at 10.30am at the Home Office to the new Home Secretary Priti Patel, as well as to London City Hall. The Christian Legal Centre, which has assisted Pastor Oluwole throughout the case, has written to chief constables across the country, asking them to uphold the freedom of street preachers to speak freely about Jesus Christ in public. This letter will be delivered on Tuesday to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick.
‘Exceptional humiliation and degradation’
On 23 February 2019, Pastor Oluwole was preaching outside Southgate Underground station. A member of the public, Mrs Ambrosine Shitrit, saw a tall hooded man squaring up to a street preacher. Thinking that the preacher was about to be assaulted, she pulled over and started filming with her phone.
Two police officers shortly arrived in response to a 999 call claiming that the preacher had been “Islamophobic”. The hooded man, who had identified himself as a Muslim, left the immediate vicinity and the police began asking the preacher to leave the area for supposedly “breaching the peace.”
The video, which shortly afterwards went viral online, shows Pastor Oluwole explaining his freedom to continue preaching to the officers, who arrest him, forcibly handcuffing him and snatching his Bible.
Pastor Oluwole was then driven five miles away from the scene, beyond the area he could use his Oyster card, and left with no means to pay for his ticket home. Police initially denied that this had happened, later changing their story after evidence backed the pastor’s claim.
Motivated by the desire not to see other street preachers treated the way he was, Pastor Oluwole authorised the Christian Legal Centre to write a pre-action letter to the Metropolitan Police. In response, the police force has agreed the sum of £2,500 in damages, including general damages for false imprisonment in the sum of £500, plus £1,000 for the exceptional humiliation and degradation and £1,000 for the mental trauma caused to Pastor Oluwole.
Petition to be delivered
Following the initial incident, questions were asked by MPs, peers and London Assembly members concerning Pastor Oluwole’s treatment.
A Christian Concern petition was also launched, supporting Pastor Oluwole and calling for the Home Secretary to urgently investigate the training given to police officers nationwide to ensure that they protect the freedom to preach in public.
The petition, now signed by over 38,000 members of the public, will be delivered this Tuesday (30 July) by Pastor Oluwole to the Home Office.
The Christian Legal Centre will also deliver a letter to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, which is being sent to every chief constable in the country that calls for many of the misconceptions about street preaching freedoms to be addressed through specialist training.
The letter explains:
“Many street preachers have found themselves in trouble. This has included being arrested, and prosecuted, despite the law recognising their rights to both manifest and express their religious beliefs. None of the clients we have assisted has been convicted; accordingly, that might suggest the criminal justice system is working appropriately; however, the problem is that many officers simply do not understand the interplay between the public order legislation and the right to freedom of speech.”
‘Christians and freedom of speech must be protected’
Pastor Oluwole said: “I am glad that the police have recognised that it was not right to arrest me for preaching from the Bible. It was traumatic being arrested and left many miles from my home. But God was always with me and even though I was left in a place I did not know, I was determined to get back to Southgate and start preaching the gospel again.
“When I came to the UK it was a free Christian country, but now preachers like me are being arrested for speaking the truth. Christians and freedom of speech must be protected, especially by the government and police. I hope this recognition of fault can lead to more Christians being protected and the police gaining greater insight into what it means to lawfully proclaim the Word of God on our streets.
“I am amazed and so grateful for the support I have received from people across the world and the Christian Legal Centre.”
‘Critiquing ideas is often motivated by love and not hate’
Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “Street preaching has a long and honoured history in the UK. In many ways it is symbolic of the kind of freedoms we have treasured in this nation.
“However despite laws that theoretically support the freedom to preach in public, in practice, police officers are quick to silence preachers at the first suggestion that a member of the public is offended. Freedom of speech means that each one of us needs to be able to critique all religions and ideas without immediately being labelled and silenced as offensive. Critiquing ideas is often motivated by love for others and not hate. The result of this also chills free speech through self-censorship.
“While the extent of the public outrage at Pastor Oluwole’s arrest was unique, what he faced from the police and members of the public was not. We are constantly supporting street preachers who are being silenced and penalised on our streets by the police, and their poor treatment and the injustice they face is too quickly forgotten.
“So whilst we are pleased that the police have agreed to pay compensation for what has happened to Pastor Oluwole, we now need to see tangible action from the government, the police and the Mayor of London, offering assurances that Christian street preachers are free to preach the gospel within the law without fear of prosecution.” https://christianconcern.com/news/police-payout-after-christian-street-preacher-arrest/
