Christian 'shock' at Rushmoor Borough Council street preacher ban
Christians have expressed their "shock" at a local authorities plans to ban street preaching.Jamie Broadey, an evangelist from Aldershot, says society is tentative to speak about "spiritual health".He has reacted to Rushmoor councils proposed injunction to restrict the behaviour of persons preaching within the town centres of Aldershot and Farnborough.The council has said it does not in any way want to prevent freedom of speech.
Mr Broadey said this kind of limiting of expression leads to "a weaker society".He said he believes Christians are treated differently to other religions."If this kind of thing was happening against the Muslims, the Muslims would be screaming Islamophobia," he said.Mr Broadey added there is no equivalent word for this kind of restriction to Christians.He added that Christians are prepared "to take punches" but "sometimes Christians take too many punches for too long".
The council displayed notifications of the application on lampposts across the district.The initial paperwork sent to the court, and shared with the BBC, showed that the council aims to tackle hostile and nuisance behaviour but made clear that defendants would be still be allowed to place written material on a stand or on the floor for others to take with them.The documents showed at least 16 separate complaints reported by local businesses, residents and market stallholders between October 2023 and November 2024.The claim form said the activities of preachers, who it described as males and females from different backgrounds, "have caused harassment, alarm, distress, and a public nuisance, especially with respect to use of a loud speaker and aggressively approaching members of the public".Among the claims are complaints that the preachers have made "homophobic and disablist comments", laid hands on children without parental permission and claimed "members of the public have 'evil spirit' within them".
A Rushmoor Council spokesperson said: "The council began this action in response to a significant number of complaints from residents and businesses about the behaviour of some street preachers in Farnborough and Aldershot town centres over nearly two years."The council would like to emphasise that we understand the sensitive nature of this issue and the legal action is not intended to prevent peaceful groups of any faith, including Christianity, from preaching, or in any way prevent freedom of speech."The council applied to adjourn the hearing to allow it further time to consult with faith and community leaders.
Mr Broadey said: "If you oppose street preaching anyway, which a lot of people do, you can easily find accusations to throw at Christians and you can weaponise the council's complaints system."On the accusations that some of the street preaching could be deemed offensive, he said: "If you're going to find the truth it is necessary to ask hard questions, it is necessary to make hard points."He added: "If you have a society of censorship, maybe people wont be offended but also people wont find the truth."He admitted that he understands that some people will not agree with his "truth" and said he is open to listening to alternative views.
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