No free speech in the UK: Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang

So what ever happened to debate and free speech? Well in the 12 years since Labour came into power they have become dirty words, associated with all that is wrong in our society.

Or rather dirty words to the righteous elite, the elite who make rules they themselves ignore whilst enforcing them on the rest of us.

Disagree with the ruling powers and your classed as a racist, smeared, run down and turned into someone who should not be allowed to speak.

One fine example of that was Margaret Beckett who explicitly compared "climate-change skeptics" to terrorists, and implied that both should be denied media airtime. In one fell swoop, she demonised those who challenge the consensus on climate change by lumping them in with radicals who support the use of violence, and suggested these sceptics should be censored.

Now we have this utter waste of police time, effort and money. Where a Christian couple who debated religion with a moslem are now hauled before court after defending their beliefs in discussion with Muslim guest.

A Christian couple have been charged with a criminal offence after taking part in what they regarded as a reasonable discussion about religion with guests at their hotel.

Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang were arrested after a Muslim woman complained to police that she had been offended by their comments.

They have been charged under public order laws with using ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words’ that were ‘religiously aggravated’.

It is understood that they suggested that Mohammed, the founder of Islam, was a warlord and that traditional Muslim dress for women was a form of bondage.

He was a warlord and if PC plod wishes to discuss that, please feel free. His battles are actually listed in the Koran itself, besides how do they think that religion spread from Saudi Arabia by debate? The defense might want to bring up Sura's 2-9 which detail many of the fine aspects of Islamic law and tolerance towards the "Sons of apes and pigs" - that's you non moslems.

You see like all religions, Islam was spread by the sword. Moslem empires, claiphates, sultans and assorted bearded warlords took their faith with them and converted conquered peoples.

They deny, however, that their comments were threatening and argue that they had every right to defend and explain their beliefs.

After the incident, the couple voluntarily attended St Anne’s Street police station in Liverpool, where they were interviewed under caution.

In July they were arrested and charged under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 and Section 31 (1) (c) and (5) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

They appeared briefly at Liverpool Magistrates Court on Friday to hear the date of their trial before magistrates, and were granted bail on the condition that they did not approach any of the witnesses expected to appear.

The use by the police of the Public Order Act to arrest people over offensive comments has dismayed a number of lawyers, who say the legislation was passed to deal with law and order problems in the streets.

Neil Addison, a prominent criminal barrister and expert in religious law, said: ‘The purpose of the Public Order Act is to prevent disorder, but I’m very concerned that the police are using it merely because someone is offended.

‘It should be used where there is violence, yobbish behaviour or gratuitous personal abuse. It should never be used where there has been a personal conversation or debate with views firmly expressed.

‘If someone is in a discussion and they don’t like what they are hearing, they can walk away.’

He added that the police had a legal duty under the Human Rights Act to defend free speech ‘and I think they are forgetting that’.

Indeed and I shall just add that under my right to free speech that: Mohammed was a pedophile who had sex with a nine year old girl, a warlord who enslaved and killed any who got in his way.

Has anyone in the righteous, who thought -and I use that word loosely - that bringing this case would be a good idea, realised that all they are doing in every sense of the word is driving another wedge between Moslems and Christians.

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