Anti-gay preacher let off without charge (From Gazette)
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Anti-gay preacher let off without charge
10:30am Sunday 21st March 2010 in
A SELF-STYLED preacher who assailed shoppers with homophobic rants has been released from court without charge.
Paul Shaw, of Duffield Drive, Colchester, was arrested after complaints about his preachings on the “evil of homosexuality” outside Debenhams’ Colchester store.
He appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court yesterday, charged with using threatening words or behaviour. Mr Shaw denied the charge, insisting there had been nothing wrong with his conduct on February 19.
District judge David Cooper told him: “You said you were spreading God’s word and when interviewed you said children needed to be protected and basically, homosexuals and lesbians should repent and ask for God’s forgiveness.”
Mr Shaw, 62, told the court: “My reasons were twofold.
“Firstly, there is a consequence for the country and society if society does not appreciate the difference between right and wrong, particularly noticeable by homosexuality.
“As a nation, we are coming under God’s judgment not very far away in the future and there will be terrible consequences for this if it is not made unlawful again.
“Secondly, on a personal level, as with all other sins, it needs to be repented of in order to enter the Kingdom of God.”
Mr Cooper initially suggested Shaw might agree to be bound over to keep the peace in future. This would have counted as a criminal conviction.
However, Mr Shaw refused explaining: “I’ve preached regularly for about three or four years without incident.
“In four years, I’ve only dealt with homosexuality about twice. I have to act in good conscience, I’m afraid, and I think [homosexuality] is a particularly significant thing for this nation at this time.”
The prosecution offered no evidence, saying without written statements from the complainants and with Mr Shaw insisting on his right to free speech, they could not proceed.
Mr Cooper dismissed the case, but warned any future complaints might land Mr Shaw back in court, facing a sentence.
He asked: “There are other sorts of ‘sins’. Do you think you could concentrate on those for a bit?”
Comments(27)
bsidethecside
says...
4:26pm Sun 21 Mar 10
Say It As It Is OK? wrote:The result had nothing to do with District judge David Cooper being a "sensible guy". The Criminal Prosecution Service offered no evidence against Mr Shaw.
District judge David Cooper is obviously a sensible guy.
It's a shame that anyone who speaks out against homosexuality these days is considered to be breaking the law and labelled a homophobic!
On the other hand it seems more and more acceptable in our society that the promotion of homosexuality is acceptable and can be done without fear of prosecution!
The worlds gone mad!
Sadly, the rantings of these nutters is something we all have to endure from time to time. I pity him.
Katie T
says...
8:58am Mon 22 Mar 10
RitchieHicks
says...
10:46am Mon 22 Mar 10
Say It As It Is OK? wrote:The world hasn't gone made. It's just full of facists.
District judge David Cooper is obviously a sensible guy.
It's a shame that anyone who speaks out against homosexuality these days is considered to be breaking the law and labelled a homophobic!
On the other hand it seems more and more acceptable in our society that the promotion of homosexuality is acceptable and can be done without fear of prosecution!
The worlds gone mad!
Taximan01
says...
2:38pm Mon 22 Mar 10
Smouldering Ewok
says...
2:57pm Mon 22 Mar 10
His words are mild in comparison to those shouted out loud on a Friday night.
Paul doesn't bother me but, i wish i could say the same for the foul mouthed yobs i see time and time again on our streets.
Paul also has a much broader vocabulary than these drunk cretins who seem to be stuck in a continual loop of words beginning with F and C.
Unfortunately Paul is an easy target because he is static when he preaches, unlike the other boozed up morons stumbling into shop windows, kicking trash and bottles down the street whilst throwing insults at passers by on their way to the kebab shop.
Colchester is sooo unbalanced and we are already tipping over the edge.
seco2
says...
3:18pm Mon 22 Mar 10
Flip Flop
says...
3:42pm Mon 22 Mar 10
2, This Paul bloke is obviously a religous nut case just like most religous people from whatever religion. They need to be saved by someone telling them they are pathetic idiots who don't believe in goasts unless it has the word holy in front of it and then it's unquestionable. Make sense of that if you can?
RitchieHicks
says...
3:52pm Mon 22 Mar 10
Smouldering Ewok wrote:I live very close to the town too and I agree with you about the drunks, but with respect there is a difference. Paul Shaw is preaching homophobic beliefs. To this end he is no better than a fanatic who is inciting hatred. If he was saying the the Muslim faith was evil, or that black people are evil, he'd never get away with it and rightly so.
I have seen Paul in town preaching frequently and in my view he can be a slight nuisance at times but is no threat to anyone.
His words are mild in comparison to those shouted out loud on a Friday night.
Paul doesn't bother me but, i wish i could say the same for the foul mouthed yobs i see time and time again on our streets.
Paul also has a much broader vocabulary than these drunk cretins who seem to be stuck in a continual loop of words beginning with F and C.
Unfortunately Paul is an easy target because he is static when he preaches, unlike the other boozed up morons stumbling into shop windows, kicking trash and bottles down the street whilst throwing insults at passers by on their way to the kebab shop.
Colchester is sooo unbalanced and we are already tipping over the edge.
Ontheball
says...
8:01pm Mon 22 Mar 10
Ricayboy
says...
8:21pm Mon 22 Mar 10
The Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin (along with many other things that people do) and it is against God's perfect plan for men and women. If a Christian wants to proclaim what the Bible teaches I think they have every right to do so. If others don't like it then they don't have to take any notice. Maybe as a Christian I should report some of these messages as "hate crimes" against my religion. Discrimination. But no, you are entitled to your opinion and I don't take personal offence.
If this bloke feels that homosexuality is a problem that negatively affects society and hurts people then he is hardly expressing hatred by speaking against it. He is simply saying what he feels people need to hear and getting a lot of abuse and trouble for the sake of it. Real Christians don't hate homosexuals or anybody else. We are called to love everybody, even our enemies. But that love does not mean that we just passively accept everything and let everyone go their own merry way to destruction. If your house was burning down would I be unloving to wake you up and tell you of the danger you were in?
Britain is a broken society in many ways. The family structure is being destroyed and we are already seeing many of the results of this. Maybe the preacher had a point?
seco2
says...
9:22pm Mon 22 Mar 10
Smouldering Ewok
says...
3:01am Tue 23 Mar 10
RitchieHicks wrote:Freedom of speech, a very deep can of worms indeed.
Smouldering Ewok wrote:I live very close to the town too and I agree with you about the drunks, but with respect there is a difference. Paul Shaw is preaching homophobic beliefs. To this end he is no better than a fanatic who is inciting hatred. If he was saying the the Muslim faith was evil, or that black people are evil, he'd never get away with it and rightly so.
I have seen Paul in town preaching frequently and in my view he can be a slight nuisance at times but is no threat to anyone.
His words are mild in comparison to those shouted out loud on a Friday night.
Paul doesn't bother me but, i wish i could say the same for the foul mouthed yobs i see time and time again on our streets.
Paul also has a much broader vocabulary than these drunk cretins who seem to be stuck in a continual loop of words beginning with F and C.
Unfortunately Paul is an easy target because he is static when he preaches, unlike the other boozed up morons stumbling into shop windows, kicking trash and bottles down the street whilst throwing insults at passers by on their way to the kebab shop.
Colchester is sooo unbalanced and we are already tipping over the edge.
Paul used to show up nearly every day underneath my flat spouting his beliefs but, not for one minute did i take his preachings seriously.
He was continuously moved on not by us but, i guess by traders complaining and rightly so.
Then it got a whole lot worse having to put up with that trumpet and accordion duo every single day of the week, walk past for 30 seconds and they sound great, put up with it for a few hours and we were wishing Paul was back.
If any one has incited hatred its the dire buskers in this town (not you flute girl, you calm us all.)
We finally moved because of the noise and violent behaviour and the lack of willingness to correct issues dragging Colchester under.
Like i said before, Colchester is unbalanced.
Paul a word of advice - Go get some common sense lessons pronto.
Smouldering Ewok
says...
3:11am Tue 23 Mar 10
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Smouldering Ewok throws in a few more tins of worms.
RitchieHicks
says...
10:04am Tue 23 Mar 10
seco2 wrote:Exactly.
Ricayboy - you utterly miss the point. Your Biblical references were, until fairly recently, the justifcation for prejudice against LGBT people, which, in its ugliest form, consists(-ed) of extreme violence. As for your final sentence, are you suggesting that gays are responsible for Britain's social ills? If there was a religious issue this nutter should be addressing, it's the conspiracy of the Catholic church to hide its decades of institutionalised child abuse... Would you tell a Black person being subjected to racist abuse that "they don't have to take any notice"??
Ricayboy
says...
6:23pm Tue 23 Mar 10
It is very difficult to define the acceptable boundaries of free speech, because in any democracy there has to be the right to have and to express an opinion. Others might disagree with this opinion and find it offensive, but this should lead to healthy debate and in the end the right consensus should prevail. Whenever someone expresses an opinion there is always an inherrent risk that others will not agree. If I am at a Colchester United game and some Leeds fans sing a song demeaning my team it could be considered a form of discrimination and a 'hate crime' against my personal views. If the Labour Party are campaigning in my town and I am a Conservative, then their views could be seen as offensive and discriminatory to Tories! I might think abortion is a bad thing. If I was to speak against it would I be guilty of a 'hate crime' against people who had abortions? The list goes on.
Obviously there have to be some limits to acceptable free speech. Discrimination of any kind is wrong, but it isn't wrong to make personal moral judgements or hold certain religious/moral convictions. I know a lot of Christians, and not one of them hates or discriminates against gay people themselves. They think that what they are doing is wrong and because of their Biblical convictions that sin has serious consequences both in this life and the next they lovingly try to warn people and preach about God's love and the need for repentance and faith in Christ. Sure there are some pseudo Christians and others who do hate other people, but I am sure that this Paul was preaching out of a sincere desire to help people find what he believes is forgiveness and a new life. No true Christian would advocate violence or abuse of individuals.
Christianity has been the predominant religion in this country for hundreds of years. What the preacher was saying was nothing more than what the church has historically believed and the Bible teaches. I do not believe it is discriminatory. As I said, the Bible teaches that sin ruins lives and seperates man from God. It is therefore a serious problem. Homosexuality is just one of many things that the Bible considers 'sin.' We are seeing the result of a sinful society in Britain. I think that few would argue that we have major social problems such as teenage pregnancy, drugs, violence, family breakdowns etc. All the time we have to put up with a radical, aggressive, liberal, politically correct agenda that is rapidly transforming society into one where people can hardly think for themselves or make any moral judgements. "If it feels good, do it!"
bsidethecside
says...
8:05pm Tue 23 Mar 10
And where exactly is the "love" in describing a gay person as an "abomination", which is what these so-called preachers do?
And how dare you compare homophobic abuse to football chants or political campaigning for a party you don't support? How patronising and ignorant you are.
If you think that is the definition of a "hate crime", then you are sadly deluded. You do a serious disservice to anybody who has genuinely been subjected to hatred and abuse, be it homophobic, racist or whatever.
Ricayboy
says...
3:04pm Wed 24 Mar 10
If I thought divorce is wrong and I spoke against it, would I be guilty of a hate crime against divorced people? As I said before, most Christians believe in 'love the sinner, hate the sin.' By expressing a personal moral conviction you are simply enjoying the precious right of free speech.
There is a lot of 'hate speech' going around but it depends on your definition of it. When David Cameron called the leader of the BNP a 'nasty piece of filth' recently, wasn't that hateful? Some would say it was justified, but it shows the double standards regarding this issue.
seco2
says...
10:44pm Wed 24 Mar 10
What absolutely ignorant rubbish.
Homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice; very few religious authorities in the world claim it to be so. It is an absolutely innate part of a homosexual person's nature. The bulk of scientific evidence points to it being determined before birth.
Shadow Demon
says...
8:50am Thu 25 Mar 10
Taximan01 wrote:Exactly this! there are few organisations more corrupt and self serving than the Church of England then there is the Catholic church which has actively covered up cases of child abvuse whilst supporting the abusers. We live in modern tomes and no longer need religion to to keep the poor in order through fear of hell fire and damnation.
Why not just ban religion altogether & all live together? Religion kills more people every year than smoking & cars.
Jess
says...
6:42pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Ricayboy
says...
8:27pm Thu 25 Mar 10
bsidethecside
says...
9:16pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Ricayboy wrote:...and in Germany "not so long ago"... need I go on?
I'll just say this. I lived for five years in a country in Eastern Europe where homosexuality is almost unheard of. If it does exist it is absent from the public eye and goes on in the privacy of peoples' own homes and lives. The vast majority of people, religious and otherwise think it is an unatural thing and has no place in public society. It was like that in Britain not so long ago.
Jimmy
says...
9:22pm Thu 25 Mar 10
You want to be careful with all your rantings. You know what they say about those who shout loudest. Come out of your closet you'll feel much better for it. You can't carry on hating yourself like this.
Sdapeze
says...
8:41am Fri 26 Mar 10
Jess
says...
1:15pm Fri 26 Mar 10
.
and this thought that being LGBT is not right or a sin which deems you evil in the eyes of god- that in itself is very judgmental and isn't that a sin as well? i had to go to catholic school as a child and was taught that god loves us all.
.
i find organized religion to be very hypocritical. each different religion thinks their way is the right way and it creates judgment towards people around you. this leads to wariness which leads to dislike and distrust which leads to hate and hate leads to violence. yes, that's extreme, but if you look around at what's going on in the world today, it's true.
.
two things you don't discuss is religion and politics- you never know who you're going to offend. there are of course, appropriate times and places for that, just not on the street corner where your opinion may only offend.
Jess
says...
1:19pm Fri 26 Mar 10
.
and isn't god really just a theory anyway? there's no proof that there even is a god. there's more proof that ghosts exist but those are still considered made up. yet we believe in god?
.
don't mean to sound blasphemous but really.
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Say It As It Is OK? says...
11:22am Sun 21 Mar 10
It's a shame that anyone who speaks out against homosexuality these days is considered to be breaking the law and labelled a homophobic!
On the other hand it seems more and more acceptable in our society that the promotion of homosexuality is acceptable and can be done without fear of prosecution!
The worlds gone mad!