Christians are claiming persecution after a pastor in Ireland broke onto the abortion clinic grounds to protest in front of women. They now defend him by claiming that he was not protesting at all, but rather spreading the gospel and holding an open mass that coincidentally happened to be in front of an abortion facility.
They don't even consider these grounds as being breached, but claim that the law is controversial, which also means that people's right to privacy is also controversial.
They don't even consider these grounds as being breached, but claim that the law is controversial, which also means that people's right to privacy is also controversial.
Quote:Baptist pastor prosecuted in Northern Ireland for open-air sermon on John 3:16
A retired Baptist pastor has been charged with violating the controversial buffer zone law near an abortion clinic in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, after delivering an open-air sermon based on the Bible verse John 3:16.
The 76-year-old pastor, Clive Johnston, a former president of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, faces two charges under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act, including allegedly seeking to “influence” individuals accessing abortion services and failing to leave the area when instructed by police.
The Christian Institute’s Deputy Director Simon Calvert called the prosecution “an outrageous restriction on freedom of religion and freedom of speech.”
Calvert argued that the buffer zone law, designed to prevent harassment or protests near abortion clinics, is being misapplied in this instance. “It’s just not reasonable or rational to suggest that preaching the Gospel, with no reference to abortion, is a protest against abortion. The Police and the Public Prosecution Service are over-stepping the mark. This is not what buffer zones were designed to do.”
The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act, introduced in 2022 by the Green Party, established 100-150 meter buffer zones around hospitals and abortion clinics in Northern Ireland. The law prohibits activities that impede, record, influence, or cause harassment, alarm, or distress within these zones.
However, critics now question whether the law is being used to suppress non-abortion-related expressions of faith or speech.
Johnston’s supporters stressed that his gathering wasn't disruptive and that his sermon focused solely on the Gospel message of God’s love, as reflected in John 3:16.
The Christian Institute, which previously supported Ashers Baking Co. in a landmark Supreme Court case, argued that the prosecution sets a dangerous precedent for limiting freedom of expression in public spaces.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/pasto...doors.html
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
