A Christian street preacher in Cumbria has been arrested and charged with a crime after he expressed his religious beliefs about homosexual conduct.<\/p>\n
Dale Mcalpine, of Workington in Cumbria, appeared before local magistrates on Friday and pleaded not guilty to breaching section 5 of the Public Order Act.<\/p>\n
Mr Mcalpine is being supported by The Christian Institute, a leading national defender of Christian religious liberty.<\/p>\n
He was preaching publicly in the town on 20 April this year but he insists he never spoke about the subject of homosexuality during his public sermon.<\/p>\n
He says two Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) approached him and one identified himself as a homosexual. <\/p>\n
According to Mr Mcalpine, that PCSO warned him not to say homosexual conduct is “sinful” because it would be a crime.<\/p>\n
The PCSO also identified himself as a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender liaison officer.<\/p>\n
Mr Mcalpine told the PCSO that it is not a crime to describe same-sex practice as a “sin”. <\/p>\n
Police officers later arrived on the scene. Mr Mcalpine was then arrested and held in a police cell before being charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” contrary to Section 5 of the public order act.<\/p>\n
Solicitor-advocate for The Christian Institute, Sam Webster, says it is not a crime to express the belief that homosexual conduct is a sin.<\/p>\n
“A Christian who stands in a public place and expresses his religious beliefs in the hope of persuading passers-by of his views \u2013 that is freedom of speech.<\/p>\n
“Yes, the police have a duty to maintain public order but they also have a duty to defend the lawful free speech of citizens. It’s not for police to decide whether Mr Mcalpine’s views are right or wrong. <\/p>\n
“Case law has ruled that the orthodox Christian belief that homosexual conduct is sinful is a belief worthy of respect in a democratic society.”<\/p>\n
In November last year, the Government was defeated in Parliament over its attempt to repeal a free speech safeguard to a law against ‘sexual orientation hatred’.<\/p>\n
The safeguard, introduced by former Home Secretary Lord Waddington, makes clear that criticising homosexual conduct, or encouraging someone to refrain from such conduct, is not in itself a crime.<\/p>\n
The Labour party has vowed to remove the free speech protection if it wins the next general election.<\/p>\n
In 2008 the Lib Dems forced a Commons vote in a failed attempt to repeal the Waddington safeguard, but allowed a free vote in the Lords in 2009.<\/p>\n
The Tories allowed a free vote. David Cameron and the shadow cabinet supported the free speech protection and in the most recent Commons vote no Tory MP voted to repeal it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Christian street preacher in Cumbria has been arrested and charged with a crime after he expressed his religious beliefs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","yoast_head":"\n