This week, a “Public Space Protection Order” came into force in Birmingham city centre. It is designed to restrict the activities of buskers and street preachers. The stated aim is to respond to noise nuisance caused by their activities and prohibits the use of musical instruments and amplification within the city centre. To This move… Continue reading Birmingham Council’s Public Space Protection Order – impact on street Evangelism
Tag: Freedom of Speech
Whose rights? A question of freedom
It looks like the Nigel Farage – Coutts saga is drawing to a close. It began with Nigel Farage claiming that his account with the bank had been closed because of his political views. The bank claimed that it was because he dd not meet their financial thresholds but leaked documents showed that in that… Continue reading Whose rights? A question of freedom
Freedom, Nigel Farage and the Coutts dilemma
I don’t know if you’ve been following this particular story or not. I’ve only really just picked up to it so am coming to the party quite late. The story is that Nigel Farage, former leader of UKIP and prominent Brexit campaigner had his account with Coutts banks shut down. The bank claimed that this… Continue reading Freedom, Nigel Farage and the Coutts dilemma
A perplexing silence?
Peter Mead thinks that there has been a perplexing silence from Christian leaders and that it has been left to others to “speak the hard truths.” He writes about this in a three part series here, here and here. Now, as I’ve written a few times, I think that our track record as conservative evangelicals… Continue reading A perplexing silence?
Freedom of speech, decorum and breach of the peace
There is in the UK widespread seemingly widespread support for the monarchy. Now, there is an important distinction between “widespread support” and “unanimous support.” There is a significant proportion of people who would prefer the crown to be replaced with a republic. Readers of Faithroots will know from past articles that I sit closer to… Continue reading Freedom of speech, decorum and breach of the peace
Move along nothing to see?
On Tuesday 9th November 2021, Tzipi Hotovely, an Israeli ambassador spoke at the London School of Economics. At the venue, students gathered to protest. Video footage shows her being greeted by a wall of noise, chants of “shame on you” and having to be ushered quickly into a car. Additional reports state that students had… Continue reading Move along nothing to see?
The crucial point about the Chaplain’s sermon on gender and sexuality
You may have seen this article in the news, it’s about a school chaplain who has been sacked following a talk in which he told pupils that they should not be forced to accept LGBT ideology. I want you to notice a couple of things here. That he did not question the right of LGBTQ… Continue reading The crucial point about the Chaplain’s sermon on gender and sexuality
Do we worship freedom?
When he wrote Escape from Reason, Francis Schaeffer talked about how we have divided the word in half, below the line is the natural world and above it is the supernatural, what we look to for meaning, what in effect we worship. Once we remove from God from above the line we replace him with… Continue reading Do we worship freedom?
Word Crimes? Thought Crimes?
Police have decided that: “No criminal offence took place when a plane banner carrying the message “White Lives Matter Burnley” was flown over a Premier League match between Manchester City and Burnley,”[1] No doubt, some people will be relieved and delighted by that decision this morning and will hail it as a victory for common-sense.… Continue reading Word Crimes? Thought Crimes?
Becoming like our idols “When we make free speech an idol”
This morning the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party tweeted a claim that SAGE had produced new models showing that it would be safer for schools to return a fortnight later than suggested. As it turned out, the tweet was false. SAGE had not said this at all. I hope that the miscommunication was an… Continue reading Becoming like our idols “When we make free speech an idol”
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