A Christian preacher in Ireland has been acquitted of charges that stemmed from his description of Islam as being “spawned in hell,” but the threat to speech remains because the judge’s ruling was based on the fact the words didn’t rise to the level of being “grossly offensive.”
Cleared of charges was pastor James McConnell, 78, from Shore Road in Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
His comments came in a 2014 sermon, where he said, “People say there are good Muslims in Britain – that may be so – but I don’t trust them. Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell.”
The sermon was delivered from the pulpit of Whitewell Metropolitan Chapel of north Belfast, and became the subject of a Belfast Magistrates Court case.
According to a report in the BBC, the judge’s conclusion was that the speech was “offensive,” but not “grossly offensive.”
McConnell also compared Muslims to the Irish Republican Army.
“Fifteen years ago, Britain was concerned of IRA cells right throughout the nation,” he said. “They done a deal with the IRA because they were frightened of being bombed. Today, a new evil has arisen. There are cells of Muslims right throughout Britain, can I hear an amen, right throughout Britain, and this nation is going to enter into a great tribulation, a great trial.”
McConnell commented after the verdict that he regretted that Muslims thought he was “out to hurt them,” but a Muslim community spokesman identified only as Dr. Al-Wazzan told the BBC such language “is definitely irresponsible and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
WND reported that his text for the sermon was 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Read more: http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/
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