UK Police Try to Silence Pastor After LGBT Community’s Threats
A Christian pastor in the United Kingdom was told by the local police that if he offends the LGBT community with a social media comment, he could be breaking the law, even though a pro-LGBT mob threatened to burn down his church.
Christian Concern, a U.K. persecution watchdog, reports Pastor Josh Williamson of Newquay Baptist Church was warned by police to keep his views in a “safe environment” after being targeted by a wave of anti-Christian abuse, including threats of violence and calls for his church to be burned down.
Last month, Williamson, 34, replied to a post on a local news outlet’s Facebook page that reported this year’s Cornwall pride event would be canceled. Williamson simply wrote, “Wonderful news!” under the post.
When he was questioned about his comment by another user, he replied, “because I don’t think sin should be celebrated.”
Answering more questions from other users, Williamson quoted what the New Testament says regarding homosexuality from the books of John, James and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
Then on his personal Facebook page, he shared the news article and wrote, “Hallelujah!! We prayed at our prayer meeting on Tuesday night that this event would be canceled. We also prayed that the Lord would save the organizers. One prayer answered, now we wait for the second prayer to be answered.”
Cornwall Pride organizers saw Williamson’s personal page, took a screenshot of the post, and then tagged Newquay Baptist Church and posted it along with negative comments made by other users about gay pride. They then blocked out the names on each comment, making it appear that all of the comments were posted by the pastor.
The pastor’s wife also received online threats, and Williamson’s head was superimposed onto an image of homosexual pornography, which was then shared online.
The LGBT group then called on its supporters to report the pastor to the police for a hate speech/crime. Activists also made several threats, including protesting at the Newquay church’s Sunday services, having the church’s charity status revoked by the government and threatening to have Williamson deported to his native Australia.
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