Some people may have seen reports in the press of a Christian couple being prosecuted for defending the Christian faith in a conversation with Muslim guests in their hotel. If you haven't you can read about it here.
The following is a letter I have written to the DPP urging him to drop the prosecution. You may wish to find out more about the case. The best place to do so is the Christian Institute web site.
FAO Keir Starmer QC, The Director of Public Prosecutions
Dear Mr Starmer,
I am writing to express my deep reservations about the prosecution of Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang by Merseyside Police.
As a church pastor in Liverpool I would say that we enjoy excellent relationships with Muslims across the city and it seems to me that this ill considered prosecution is not only unjust on the facts of the case but also liable to destabilise relations between different religious and ethnic groups in our city. It is therefore neither, I feel, likely to result in a conviction or in the public interest
I would perhaps not have chosen to use the precise terms that the accused are reported as having said in the media (calling the prophet Mohammed a warlord for example). However it seems to me that their comments are arguably entirely accurate; so, for example, feminist academics have been arguing for decades over whether Muslim dress codes for women are oppressive putting people in bondage. I note that one of them seem to have been prosecuted.
I accept it is perfectly possible that the Muslim guests may have been offended by the comments. But I am not sure that this legislation was in any way intended to enshrine in law a right not to be offended! In fact it seems to me that it is the very essence of a free society that each person is entitled to hold and express views that others may find offensive. If this is not the case then it seems to me that the complainants in this case are in danger of falling foul of the law themselves as calling Jesus a 'minor prophet' is as offensive to Christians as calling Mohanned a 'warlord' would be to Muslims.
It seems to me that the law is being somewhat selectively applied in this case against people holding Christian views; such people seem to have considerably less freedom of speech than those who oppose Christian views. Richard Dawkins has written that Joshua, one of the heroes of the Jewish and Christian faiths, was responsible for a genocide in a multi-million selling book! The parallel with this case is unmistakable, but only one of them has resulted in a prosecution.
For the sake of freedom of speech and also of racial and religious harmony in our city I would urge the CPS to reconsider this ill advised prosecution.
Yours sincerely
Rev'd Andrew Evans MA (Cantab)
Minister
Christ Church Liverpool
