{"id":7081,"date":"2014-02-18T17:02:11","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T17:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/?p=7081"},"modified":"2014-02-22T04:03:41","modified_gmt":"2014-02-22T04:03:41","slug":"criminalization-british-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/criminalization-british-christianity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Criminalisation of British Christianity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(function(d, s, id) {   var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];   if (d.getElementById(id)) return;   js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;   js.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\";   fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"fb-like\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/criminalization-british-christianity\/\" data-layout=\"standard\" data-action=\"like\" data-show-faces=\"true\" data-share=\"true\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(function(d, s, id) {   var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];   if (d.getElementById(id)) return;   js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;   js.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\";   fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7095\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7095\" style=\"width: 298px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Ed-West.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-7095   \" alt=\"Ed West warns that Christianity is becoming criminalized in Britain\" src=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Ed-West.jpg\" width=\"298\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Ed-West.jpg 1181w, https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Ed-West-600x564.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Ed-West-300x281.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Ed-West-1024x962.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 298px) 100vw, 298px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7095\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ed West warns that Christianity is becoming criminalized in Britain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Journalist Ed West raised concerns that heavy-handed policies are increasingly criminalising Britons who hold to the Christian perspective.<\/p>\n<p>In an article for <em>The Times <\/em>(which can be read on Anglican Mainstream <strong><a title=\"[opens in a new window]\" href=\"http:\/\/www.anglican-mainstream.net\/2014\/01\/28\/do-liberals-really-want-christian-preachers-arrested\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>here<\/em><\/a><\/strong>), Mr. West suggested that even non-Christians should be worried about how people who hold unpopular views on sexuality are increasingly being strong-armed into silence.<\/p>\n<p>If those who hold views different from the mainstream really are guilty of hate crimes, West asks, then shouldn\u2019t those individuals be suspended from work or arrested? If so, do we really want to live in a society that criminalises opposing opinions?<\/p>\n<p>In his article West drew attention to the reaction of London Mayor Boris Johnson to the bus campaign advertising conversion therapy for homosexuals. (Read our report of the event from last April <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/boris-snubs-christian-bus-adverts\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><em>here<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.) Although West disagrees on the effectiveness of ex-gay therapy, he argues that such ads should not be banned simply because liberals find them offensive.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The past half-century has seen a social revolution akin to the Protestant Reformation, in which previously accepted orthodoxies have become heresy within a generation, and homophobes are the new Catholics. And when something becomes unspeakable, it is easy to push it out of the public sphere or even criminalise it, especially when politics acts as a replacement communion of belief. If, as many believe, traditional views on homosexuality are more hateful than misguided, why shouldn\u2019t those who express such things be suspended from their jobs or arrested?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>West goes on to warn that \u201cas our Christian blasphemy laws were finally put to rest in 2008 they were being replaced with \u2018hate\u2019 laws\u2026neo-blasphemy laws in all but name.\u201d Instead of religion as the untouchable element in their lives, many in Britain are now striving for a complete, criticism-free identity. Liberalism advocates this identity by \u201ccategorizing every view with which it disagrees as offensive.\u201d As such, liberalism is well on its way to becoming the newest 21st century-religion, but with its ideals trampled in the climb to the top.<\/p>\n<p>West\u2019s concerns echo warnings issued in 2006 by Dr. N. T. Wright, then the Bishop of Durham, who <a href=\"http:\/\/ntwrightpage.com\/Wright_HOL_Moral_Climate.htm\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>told the House of Lords<\/strong> <\/a>that there were quickly developing a new class of crimes which \u201chave to do, not with actions but with ideas and beliefs.\u201d He continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;People in my diocese have told me that they are now afraid to speak their minds in the pub on some major contemporary issues for fear of being reported, investigated, and perhaps charged. My Lords, I did not think I would see such a thing in this country in my lifetime\u2026. The word for such a state of affairs is \u2018tyranny\u2019: sudden moral climate change, enforced by thought police.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Christian Voice has reported on a number of high profile cases where Christians have found themselves on the wrong side of the totalitarian thought police (see the section \u2018Discrimination Against Christians in Britain\u2019, at the end of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/persecution-christians-britain\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>this<\/strong> <\/a>article.) Just last month <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/street-preacher-arrested-dundee\/\" target=\"_blank\">we reported<\/a><\/strong> on the arrest of an evangelist in Dundee for nothing other than preaching the gospel. To such tendencies West raises an important questions that liberals would do well to heed: <em>do even liberals wish to see a society in which every belief other than their own is treated as a criminal offense?<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Further Reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/street-preacher-arrested-dundee\/\" target=\"_blank\">Street Preacher Arrested in Dundee<\/a><\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/persecution-christians-britain\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>The Persecution of Christians in Britain <\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"fb-comments\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/criminalization-british-christianity\/\" data-numposts=\"5\" data-colorscheme=\"light\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wp.me\/P1OVTZ-gb\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3940\" style=\"border: 0px;\" title=\"Join Today!\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Join_donate_Logo2.jpg\" width=\"185\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Journalist Ed West raised concerns that heavy-handed policies are increasingly criminalising Britons who hold to the Christian perspective. In an article for The Times (which can be read on Anglican Mainstream here), Mr. West suggested that even non-Christians should be worried about how people who hold unpopular views on sexuality are increasingly being strong-armed into [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144,380],"tags":[341,1007,1005,1006,160,1008],"class_list":["post-7081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-freedom-of-speech","category-freedom-to-preach","tag-boris-johnson","tag-conversion-therapy","tag-ed-west","tag-liberalism","tag-thought-police","tag-tom-wright"],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Robin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/author\/robin\/"},"rttpg_comment":5,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/christian-freedom\/freedom-of-speech\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Freedom of Speech<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/christian-freedom\/freedom-to-preach\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Freedom to Preach<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Journalist Ed West raised concerns that heavy-handed policies are increasingly criminalising Britons who hold to the Christian perspective. In an article for The Times (which can be read on Anglican Mainstream here), Mr. West suggested that even non-Christians should be worried about how people who hold unpopular views on sexuality are increasingly being strong-armed into&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7081\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}