An elderly pastor, 71 was arrested by police and accused of ‘homophobic statements’ after he preached from the book of Genesis in the Bible, saying God created only two genders and wanted families to be headed by a ‘father and a mother’.
The man of God was addressing a crowd outside Uxbridge Station in West London when two police officers stormed the ground and ordered him to descend from the podium. He was pulled down by the officers when he refused to descend.
His preaching was against homosexuality and how it deviates from God’s original plan for creating the world and humans.
Dailymail.co.uk reported police as saying that they had received complaints the man had been making ‘allegedly homophobic comments’.
They arrested him without charge under the Public Order Act, which can be used against someone for using ‘abusive or insulting words’ that cause ‘harm’ to someone else.
Explaining what necessitated the arrest of the preacher, Met Police spokesman said: “At 1.35pm on Friday, April 23, officers on patrol were flagged down by a member of the public who made them aware of a man allegedly making homophobic comments close to Uxbridge Underground Station.
A number of other people also approached the officers with concerns about the man’s language.
“Officers spoke with the 71-year-old man and he was subsequently arrested on suspicion of an offence under Section 5 of the Public Order Act.
“He was taken to a west London police station and later released under investigation.
“A file has been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service for review and consideration.
“The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards [DPS] have since assessed the footage and found no indication of misconduct. The arrest will not be subject to a full DPS review.”
The preacher’s supporters took to a Christian Facebook page to condemn his arrest which they thought was arbitrary.
“Whilst he was preaching, he expounded the final verses of Genesis 1, declaring that God’s purpose in creating mankind was to set human beings in families, headed by a father and a mother, not by two fathers, or by two mothers.
“The distinction within mankind of just two genders, male and female, made in the image of God, constitutes the essence of God’s created order.
Police officer also spoke to [a second pastor] about homophobic speech.
“The minister explained that to uphold God’s moral law and speak about the dangers of sin in respect of LGBT issues implies absolutely no hatred or unpleasantness towards any individual or group of people.
“Nevertheless, the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality is plain.
“To this the policeman responded that some matters simply cannot be referred to in public places, implying that homosexuality is one of them.
“The officer also stated that there is no freedom to make statements in public which offend people.
“[The second pastor] responded that the Police would have no objection whatsoever to a Pride parade being held in Uxbridge, yet that is highly offensive to Bible-believing Christians.
“This arrest of a faithful preacher for doing nothing other than declaring what the Bible teaches about one of the important moral issues of our time reveals a dangerous assault taking place in modern Britain upon freedom of speech, and not least, upon the freedom of Christian pastors to proclaim in public all that the Bible teaches (see Acts 20:27),” the statement read.
