Police Say Bible Verse on Campervan Could Be Hate Speech, Says Pastor
A church leader has said the police warned him that that Bible verses on the back of his campervan could be considered “hate speech”. The Telegraph has the story.
Mick Fleming, 59, said he was approached by a police officer who commented on his campervan while he was at a petrol station in Burnley, on October 27th.
Mr Fleming, who recently gave up all of his belongings and now lives in a van, has the Bible verse John 3:16 emblazoned on the back of it.
The commonly quoted verse reads: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
Mr Fleming, who runs an independent church and anti-poverty charity in Burnley, was told “the writing could be seen as hate speech in the wrong context”.
The church pastor said: “I was in the petrol station and a policeman came and tapped me on the shoulder.
“He was a really nice guy, wasn’t nasty or anything, and he said ‘a bit of advice – the writing could be seen as hate speech in the wrong context. I am just giving you a heads up’.
“He wasn’t there to arrest me: it was just advisory.
“He said if someone reported it police would investigate, and I could end up in trouble.
“I just thought ‘wow’ – I just wondered what people thought… where have we moved to as a country where a bit of Christian scripture on the back of a van can be seen as hateful or spiteful?
“Maybe society is moving to a place where they don’t want faith-based people sat around a table in discussion with them… for me it’s an integral message of how real change is possible.”
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Let’s assume someone had a verse from the Quran displayed on the back of his campervan in a similar way.
Do you think the police would have treated him like this?
The answer to that question tells you everything you need to know about freedom of speech in Britain.
100% correct. My first thought.
It’s more likely that anyone (but especially a British white Christian ) complaining to the police about it would be arrested for hate speech.
And yet in Islam, Jesus is considered to be a holy man and prophet, so I wonder who exactly might consider it “hate speech” – the Jews perhaps, Buddhists, Hindus?
It’s worse than that, because Muslims are taught that Jesus will return TO HELP MUSLIMS SLAUGHTER CHRISTIANS.
Pure insanity, as usual, from the utterly STUPID police force that infests this country. Probably no coincidence that this happened in Burnley, where a large proportion of the population adhere to the Religion of Peace – blessings be upon them. When I last looked, this country has a legally established religion called Christianity and the words on this guy’s van come from the principal Book of this legally established religion. Were an idiotic Burnley plod to investigate Mr Fleming for hate speech, then Mr Fleming might refer him to the head of this legally established religion who is ……… er, The King —- whom Plod has sworn an oath to serve. Moron.
The er, King wants to be all things to all men. Defender of the faiths.
If he really has secretly converted to Islam, he is perfectly entitled to do so, like every other human on the planet.
But if that is the case, or if the late Queen’s cousin and traitor Anthony Blunt was telling the truth when he reportedly said that she and the whole family were secretly Jewish, and all the royal males have been circumcised by Jewish mohels since Queen Victoria’s time, then he must abdicate, because only Protestants may legally hold the posts of UK Monarch or Monarch’s Prime Minister.
Yor rite, of course.
The problem is that he is supposed to uphold the Anglican version of Christianity, in precedence and supremacy over both other branches of Christianity and all other Faiths. The issue is ‘complicated’ by the fact that he is not exactly an Intellectual. Perfectly nice guy, I am sure, but perhaps not particularly erudite. Oh, and by the way, I am a Royalist and a Christian, although not an Anglican.
The enemy is becoming increasingly deranged.
Interesting, isn’t it, how this simple verse from the Gospel provokes them so much.
Interesting, how furiously intolerant our “diverse, vibrant, tolerant” society can become all of a sudden, just by seeing a single line from the Bible.
Speaking as one who spent many hours at Sunday School memorising verses from the Old and New Testaments, including this one which we were taught to believe was one of the most important verses in the whole Bible, I can safely say that it is the very antithesis of “hate speech”.
No, it isn’t. The most important verses in the entire Bible are the repeated declarations by Jesus himself that WITHOUT REPENTANCE, THERE CAN BE NO SALVATION. In this he was copying his twin brother John the Baptist.
Acts 24:13 “When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Luke 3:3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins
Luke 13:3 Jesus said, I tell you, Nay: but, except ye REPENT, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luke 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, REBUKE HIM; and IF HE REPENT, forgive him.
No, the most important Bible verses are the ones that teach REPENTANCE for salvation, as Jesus the Forerunner said,
“Luke 13:3 – I tell you, Nay: but, EXCEPT YE REPENT, YE SHALL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH.”
John 8:11 – “Go, and SIN NO MORE.”
My grandfather, who was from New Malden, had a van with that verse written on the side of it. This was probably in the 30’s and 40’s and the family referred to it as The Gospel Van.He would be turning in his grave at high revolutions if he knew what was going on these days.
So plod have decided to make the words of the Christian bible illegal. This should make for an interesting court case. Now if I was to publicly denounce the koran as a 7th century manual for barbarians I assume that would be equally legitimate?
They know not what they do
Oh, they know, they really do f’know.
”…could be seen as hate speech in the wrong context.” WTF constitutes ”the wrong context”?
Reminds me of this woman, I shared previously, who got pulled over for a sweary car sticker that ”could cause offense”. There must be very low levels of actual crime in Chester, that’s all I can assume;
”Georgia Venables, a 29 year old motorist, sparked controversy with a cheeky bumper sticker on her Peugeot 108 that landed her in hot water with the law. She adorned her dark blue Peugeot 108 with the slogan ‘don’t be a c***’ among numerous other stickers to give her vehicle a personal touch.
However she was pulled over by a male police officer earlier this year who stated the sticker bearing the word ‘c**’ could cause “offence”. The sticker, which read ‘don’t be a c***’, led to her being summonsed to appear before Chester Magistrates Court.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2058453/woman-defends-funny-offensive-bumper-sticker
Jesus!Christ!God!Lord!Oh blimey! InshallahJesus, that was close.Christ, I almost forgot. Thank theLordourGodfor the strikethrough formatting!Reminds me of this. Can you remember Top Gear, the ‘offensive cars’ episode, where they’re in ‘bible belt’ Alabama for their challenge? I used to love this show and would routinely PMSL at their challenges. The chap above might have a similar experience
( albeit with machetes, not guns ) if he drives through Islamized areas of Birmingham, Manchester or Bradford, and parks outside a mosque, lol;
”As the boys (and the film crew) will now admit, this is the scariest challenge they ever faced in the history of the show. “Survival Challenge in Alabama”: Drive through Alabama with offensive slogans painted on their cars and try not to get killed. Things are tense on the highway, then reach boiling point at a gas station.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKcJ-0bAHB4
I dunno, the Patagonia trip got pretty serious as they whole crew had to leg it.
Blimey? You can’t say that. Short for Gor blimey or God blind me. Check, “strewth”, and “crikey”.
Makes preaching the gospel look like Tourettes.
I’m tempted to call for defunding the (existing) police and forming a new force. The evidence suggests they are beyond redemption.
I believe much of the problem comes from recruiting officers from social studies courses for fast track promotion together with left wing quangos.
I guess if you responded to the little prick in blue with ‘why don’t you f*ck off back to social work’ you might be in trouble but I would love to know under what law.
The police officer needs to be named, I wonder if he’s got a British or Muslim name, then face severe disciplinary action for expressing what is hopefully a personal opinion rather than the policy of the police force he works for.
“He was a really nice guy…”. I hope you reported him for assault.
Yes, of course he wasn’t a really nice guy. He was spreading terror. If he was a really nice guy he would have reassured him of his right to free speech as his message was clearly not infringing on any principle of reciprocity. He would also have pointed out that the police were there to help defend such free speech, and would resist both hard and soft terror against it
Yes, he was a nice guy.
A bit like someone running a restaurant and one day a really nice, pleasant, soft spoken guy coming in and telling him in a friendly, helpful manner that he wouldn’t want something bad to happen to the restaurant and offering him protection.
For goodness sake, the ‘law’ taking the Mick.
Perhaps the nice policeman would not have given any thought to having a quiet word if Alan’s snackbar was written on the van. Catering for the masses and all that.
You would be investigated because you are white and minding if your own business. Easy job for the old bill and unlikely to cause any trouble. They can’t be dealing with those real criminals all the time.
I’m an Atheist, but just tell the police to do one. It’s none of their business.
Better not come to Northern Ireland where passages from the Bible are everywhere!
We used to live near Plymouth Brethren and there was a sign on their farmland which said Christ Died for our Sins. As a child, I was terrified!
Better tell the few churches that still have congregations, they are preaching hate speech!
Of course the imams calling for the death of the west and enslavement of non believers and stealing of their women are just practicing the religion of peace.
So God’s promise to mankind that one shall receive eternal life in return for faith in its saviour is to be considered “hate speech”? No matter how you dissect this verse it is literally impossible to detect anything hateful within its words.
By contrast, take following quote from the Quran: “Judgment Day will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Jews will hide behind the rocks and the trees, but the rocks and the trees will say: Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him”.
Imagine that this quote from this verse was displayed on the back of a van driven by a Muslim, and the some copper crawls out of the woodwork and says “hey, mate, you know that might be seen has hate speech!” He’ll be lucky if he walks away with his head still attached.
To take John 3:16 and label it hate speech is like calling a teapot a weapon of mass destruction.
Good luck in any British court with proving Biblical passages are hate speech! Got to be a windup.😂😂😂
Especially when the particular passage speaks of God so loving the world that he was willing to give everything to save it.
Almighty God did love the world, and in His wisdom, sent not only one, but TWIN SONS to redeem us: Jesus the Forerunner, and his non-identical twin brother John the Baptist the True Christ, both born to their mother Elizabeth at Ein Karem 2000 years ago, before the Impostor Liar Baby Thief calling herself “Virgin Mary” stole newborn Jesus, presented newborn John to Zacharias as his only son, and smuggled newborn Jesus 7 miles away to Bethlehem, so she could claim he was born in the City of David.
Helped by her ally Satan, she deceived the world for 2000 years into worshipping herself and her Stolen Child, tricking millions into crawling on their knees before her statues, and praying to her instead of Almighty God.
But the Time of Evil is Over.
I think the time has come for you to enlighten us. You have rejected the Biblical narrative of the birth of Jesus as being unreliable and based only on what Mary said as related in the Gospels. Perhaps you could be systematic and factual so that we can get the full picture: On what primary sources are you basing your theory? Who first outlined the story of the switching at birth of Jesus and John the Baptist? When did the story first appear in print, or is it based on an oral tradition? Is there a name for this heresy? I have attempted to be objective in my comments, and would personally appreciate it if you would stop using expressions which disparage Mary and throw scorn on the Jesus of the Gospels. You may hide behind your nom de plume in the Daily Sceptic, but if your scathing comments were directed in real life at characters in the book of another religion, then you might well be on the receiving end of an early morning visit by the hate police, prompted by an unnamed complainant making allegations of hurt feelings. That is not the Christian way, if we follow the… Read more »
WHAT???? You dare threaten me with “an early morning visit from the hate police”??? Are you out of your mind, spewing such tripe TOTALLY AGAINST FREEDOM OF SPEECH on this, the online publication of the FOUNDER OF THE FREE SPEECH UNION? Do you want to burn me at the stake, like the Catholics did to William Tyndale, just for translating the New Testament into English? I don’t have to prove anything “academically” to you about Christianity, which is a religion based on FAITH. Just remind yourself of one fact: The ONLY SOURCE the world has of the Fake Virgin Birth is THE IMPOSTOR MARY HERSELF, because even Jesus never mentioned it, nor even told us to honour his mother, nor to pray to her. In fact, when asked by his disciples about his mother, he said, “WHO IS MY MOTHER?” He also never claimed to be Almighty God, but humbly referred his disciples to his Father. There was no “switching at birth”: the Impostor Baby Thief Mary played midwife, deceived and drugged Elizabeth at Ein Karem, concealed newborn Jesus, handed his twin brother John to Zacharias as his “only” son, then smuggled newborn Jesus 7 miles away to Bethlehem, then… Read more »
I think it shows the depths of ignorance and weak intellect of the police.
Failure of management, recruiting, training and supervision.
But the quote is factually wrong. John the Baptist is the True Christ, born at Ein Karem to Elizabeth, along with his non-identical Twin Brother Jesus the Forerunner, stolen at birth by the Impostor Baby Thief calling herself “Virgin Mary”, playing midwife to deceive and drug Elizabeth when her time for childbirth came. The Impostor Liar Baby Thief Mary then smuggled newborn Jesus 7 miles away to Bethlehem, so she could claim he was born in the City of David. It was only one of her appalling atrocities, the evil woman who deceived the world for 2000 years into worshipping herself and her Stolen Child.
But the Time of Evil is Over.
The only interest the authorities have is pandering to an increasingly bold and aggressive Muslim population and silencing the indigenous and Christian population.