by Lois McLatchie Miller, Premier Christianity
A retired pastor has been convicted after reading John 3:16 on the fringes of a buffer zone near a hospital in Northern Ireland. If that’s enough to trigger criminal prosecution, we are entering dangerous territory, says Lois McLatchie Miller
The conviction of Clive Johnston this week should concern every Christian – and indeed every Briton who values freedom.
A 78-year-old grandfather now has a criminal record for holding a small open-air church service near a hospital in Northern Ireland.
He displayed no graphic signs, shouted no abuse, blocked no entrances, and did not even mention abortion. He simply preached from John 3:16 – perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Yet that was enough to make him guilty under Northern Ireland’s abortion buffer zone laws.
The uncomfortable question now facing Britain is this: are we creating Christianity-free zones in parts of our public square?