Christians Threatened With Arrest for Spreading Gospel in Britain

Parts of Britain have been taken over by the world's most intolerant religion -- Islam.  The Telegraph reports:

A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham.

RII SCHROER

Warned: Arthur Cunningham [left] and Joseph Abraham

The evangelists say they were threatened with arrest for committing a "hate crime" and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. The incident will fuel fears that "no-go areas" for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed in The Sunday Telegraph this year.

Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, both full-time evangelical ministers, have launched legal action against West Midlands Police, claiming the officer infringed their right to profess their religion.

Mr Abraham said: "I couldn't believe this was happening in Britain. The Bishop of Rochester was criticised by the Church of England recently when he said there were no-go areas in Britain but he was right; there are certainly no-go areas for Christians who want to share the gospel."

. . . .  The preachers, both ministers in Birmingham, were handing out leaflets on Alum Rock Road in February when they started talking to four Asian youths.

A police community support officer (PCSO) interrupted the conversation and began questioning the ministers about their beliefs.

They said when the officer realised they were American, although both have lived in Britain for many years, he launched a tirade against President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Cunningham said: "I told him that this had nothing to do with the gospel we were preaching but he became very aggressive.

"He said we were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message. He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station."

. . . .  The ministers claim he also advised them not to return to the area. As he walked away, the PCSO said: "You have been warned. If you come back here and get beaten up, well you have been warned".

West Midlands Police, who refused to apologise, said the incident had been "fully investigated" and the officer would be given training in understanding hate crime and communication.

This is not a problem that a little training will solve.   That is part of the appropriate response, but by itself it is nothing more than window dressing.  This officer quite deliberately threatened Christians with arrest and violence for speaking about their faith.  All training will do is to teach him how to be more subtle in his persecution in the future.

British secularists should be as concerned as Christians.   Britain's freedoms are on the verge of slipping away.

Comments

[rrobin]

Obama will allow this in America also. This is really scary, and his election ought to be just flat out unthinkable.

[benning]

Stick a fork In Britain. It's finished. The Church of Emngland is no more. All that remains is a PC Socialist organization whose nominal head - excluding Prince Chuck - is, for all intents and purposes, an atheist.

G_d will judge Britain harshly, and all Britons will suffer for allowing this insanity to envelope their island.

Britainistan is the correct name of the place now.