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Is there free speech in Belfast?
July 15, 2015 at 10:40 am
(This post was last modified: July 15, 2015 at 10:42 am by Dystopia.)
Quote:'Satanic Islam' sermon Belfast pastor James McConnell says he faces six months in jail
Quote:Pastor McConnell has been charged under the 2003 Communications Act with "sending, or causing to be sent, by means of a public electronic communications network, a message or other matter that was grossly offensive".
The charges centre on a sermon he gave in his church last year in which he said "Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell". The sermon was streamed on the internet.[/quote ]
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/n...13817.html
Quote:Pastor James McConnell was accused of Islamophobia after he denounced the Muslim religion as a “heathen” faith in May 2014. He issued a public apology, but not before Northern Ireland’s first minister, Peter Robinson, came under fire for initially defending him.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/...slam-slurs
As usual it's acceptable to jail and prosecute your own citizens for simply saying what they think is true but don't you dare laying a finger on extremists preaching terrorism.
But wait there's more
Quote:Muslim who praised IS drove case against 'Satanic Islam' sermon Belfast pastor McConnell
Quote:A leading Northern Ireland Muslim who praised Islamic State is set to be called as the main prosecution witness against a Christian preacher charged with making offensive remarks about Islam.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/n...65308.html
Where are the politicians who passed these laws? What were they smoking back then? Who the hell thought it was a good idea to criminalize free speech? What is hate speech? Is it speech the majority doesn't like? Is it speech liberals don't like? Is it what offends minorities, but not majorities?
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
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RE: Is there free speech in Belfast?
July 15, 2015 at 11:26 am
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: Is there free speech in Belfast?
July 15, 2015 at 11:40 am
Yeah, when they had that bin lorry accident at new years someone made a joke about it on twitter. Got arrested.
RULE BRITANNIA.
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RE: Is there free speech in Belfast?
July 17, 2015 at 4:48 am
The PC brigade do have a healthy job here denouncing anything which even remotely looks like criticism. I'm 100% against trolling people online who have, say, lost someone in an accident, but I don't think arresting them is both logical or going to stop it occuring in the future.
Equally, I think the entire discourse about not saying anything negative about Islam (a detestable and poisonous religion) is really damaging some social and community relations in the UK. The continued equating of Islam and Muslim is really hampering much needed discourse on the role of communities in general wider society. I don't agree with a lot of what the Pastor in NI says, but being arrested for criticizing an idea is probably one of the worst indictments that can be made against the UK at the moment. Thought crime is not a crime.
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RE: Is there free speech in Belfast?
July 17, 2015 at 5:13 pm
There might be all kinds of fun things to turn lose in Northern Ireland; LDS brethren, JWs, Scientologists, and
me.
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
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RE: Is there free speech in Belfast?
July 17, 2015 at 5:27 pm
Well, obviously it came in the wake of one of the bullshit laws under the so called "war on terror" hype.
Quote: A Public Prosecution Service spokesperson said that after considering a complaint about "an internet broadcast of a sermon", it had decided to "offer an individual an informed warning for an offence contrary to the Communications Act 2003".
That's from the BBC.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-33183760
These laws obviously cut both ways and not only the intended one. Thankfully we don't have something like that, otherwise our rightwing politicians would fill up the jail cells in a hurry. We only have laws against hate speech, which means publicly inciting any given audience to violence against others. Obviously he didn't do that. Although I have nothing but contempt for anyone making blanket statements on any group, I'm all for the right for every idiot going public with his ignorance.
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RE: Is there free speech in Belfast?
July 17, 2015 at 5:28 pm
@OP question.
No, apparently not, at least in this instance.
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RE: Is there free speech in Belfast?
July 17, 2015 at 5:31 pm
(July 17, 2015 at 4:48 am)Pandæmonium Wrote: The PC brigade do have a healthy job here denouncing anything which even remotely looks like criticism. I'm 100% against trolling people online who have, say, lost someone in an accident, but I don't think arresting them is both logical or going to stop it occuring in the future.
Equally, I think the entire discourse about not saying anything negative about Islam (a detestable and poisonous religion) is really damaging some social and community relations in the UK. The continued equating of Islam and Muslim is really hampering much needed discourse on the role of communities in general wider society. I don't agree with a lot of what the Pastor in NI says, but being arrested for criticizing an idea is probably one of the worst indictments that can be made against the UK at the moment. Thought crime is not a crime.
Apparently it is a crime : I can't criticize as all European countries have hate speech laws, either implicit or explicit.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
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RE: Is there free speech in Belfast?
July 17, 2015 at 5:35 pm
(July 17, 2015 at 5:31 pm)Dystopia Wrote: Apparently it is a crime : I can't criticize as all European countries have hate speech laws, either implicit or explicit.
Yeah, but as I said, they vary. Calling Islam Satanic is something our rightwingers do before breakfast. And they don't go to jail for it. There has to be some incitement to violent action involved to qualify as hate speech.
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RE: Is there free speech in Belfast?
July 17, 2015 at 5:37 pm
No it doesn't, otherwise this person wouldn't have been arrested, don't you agree? Inciting something that is already a crime can and should be punished it it disrupts public order and national security - But censoring mere unpopular words is just irrational.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
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