Faith Speech = Hate Speech? Laws Target Christians

By Gary Lane
CWNews

April 29, 2005


CWNews.org - Two Pastors in Australia face sentencing for speaking out about Islam. In Western nations hate speech laws are being enacted and used to protect religious minorities. But often these laws are being used to punish Christians for sharing their faith.

A high profile case in Australia is rallying Christians there against hate speech laws.

Melbourne, Australia is known to sports fans around the world as the home of the Australia Open Tennis Championship. It’s also known as the city of diverse cultures, with an easygoing, permissive attitude.

Yet Christians now see it as a restrictive society, where political correctness has run amok. One where speaking openly about one’s Christian faith may send you to court or worse—to jail.

Bill Muehlenberg is spokesman for the Australia Family Association. Though he’s American, he’s an outspoken voice in Melbourne urging lawmakers to do away with a portion of Victoria 's racial and religious tolerance act.

Muehlenberg said, "It seems to be open season on Christianity—there's a double standard here. We should tolerate all world views, all religions, yet Christianity is taking a hammering."

The law protects citizens from ‘vilification’ of their race or religion—speech deemed offensive by complainants. Those found guilty face hefty fines and jail time.

Muehlenberg suggests Christians are the most likely targets of this law. Because: "To simply proclaim the truth claims of Christianity,” Muehlenberg said, “the Bible tells us that will offend those who do not accept the claims of the Gospel.”

He went on, “We cannot help that [their choice]. But when governments get into the business of telling us which beliefs we can believe and which we cannot, when they get in the business of being judges of religious questions and opinions—we're all going to be in trouble for it."

Among those sued are two Pastors: Danny Nalliah of Catch the Fire Ministries and Daniel Scott, a Pakistani Evangelist.

A tribunal judge found the men guilty of vilifying Islam following a lengthy trial that ended late last December. A complaint was filed against them by the Islamic Council of Victoria State after 3 Muslims said statements made by Daniel Scott offended them. The Muslims attended a church seminar on Islam conducted by Scott, sponsored by Catch the Fire Ministries in March 2002.

Pastor Danny Nalliah says the seminar featured a comparison of verses from the Bible with verses from the Koran.

The complainants said they especially felt vilified by a discussion concerning jihad—or holy war. Nalliah says he and Scott were not allowed to read verses from the Koran as evidence at their trial.

Nalliah said, "Our question to the judge was, ‘Your Honor, how can I vilify a Muslim when I read from his own text’?”

Then, the barrister reminded the judge, ‘Your Honor, truth is not a defense in this law.’ And that was taken into consideration. Even if you speak the truth, and someone is offended, you are guilty and they are not."

Muehlenberg said, "It's bad law and bad law should not be in place. The terms are ambiguous. What is it to offend somebody? Nothing’s clearly defined. So, everybody's really at jeopardy, at risk, under the law, not knowing if they are guilty."

The Islamic Council of Victoria refused to grant CBN News an interview about the two men's case or the vilification law.

Some Christian leaders with several of Australia 's mainline denominations initially supported the vilification law because it protects against racial hate speech.

But some, like Anglican Archbishop Peter Watson, now feel the law needs changing.

Watson said, "Not everything that is offensive or upsetting to us should be outlawed."

Presbyterian leader Allan Harmon complains that, "The law mixes racial and religious vilification and they are not the same.

Again Archbishop Watson: "Churches should have examined the law more closely whether the act was an unnecessary curb on free speech."

Australians, like Americans, value expressing their opinions—whether it's in newspaper editorial columns or on talk radio. In The United States, our Constitution guarantees us the right to free speech. So, isn't this religious vilification really an issue of free speech? Here in Australia there’s no guarantee.

Nalliah said, "Our constitution in itself has an implied notion of free speech, but does not have a specific clause for free speech. And this case has now caused all politicians and government leaders to rethink about where we are heading as a nation."

The vilification law definitely caused Rob Wilson to rethink his state government's commitment to free speech.

He's the former Mayor of Casey—a large suburb of Melbourne . A complaint was filed against him by a transexual witch, Olivia Watts—a former police officer—appearing on Australian channel 10. She said she was vilified by Wilson when he implied in a June 2003 press release that she was a Satanist.

Watts said, "Unless these ignorant and untrue words like those put forward by this counselor are challenged, they are stereotypes people will believe." The case was resolved late last summer when Wilson issued a written statement acknowledging that Ms. Watts was not a Satanist.

Wilson told CBN News, under the vilification law, he was considered guilty before his side of the dispute was presented to the tribunal judge.

Wilson said, "You're guilty until you can prove yourself innocent. It really goes against the natural British Justice which is that you're innocent until you are proven guilty.

What is happening is: people are going to be afraid to speak."

Pastors say, under the religious vilification law, if they give a sermon against sorcery denouncing witchcraft and a witch is sitting unannounced in the congregation, the Pastor and church could have a vilification case filed against them.

A growing number of Christians and civil libertarians are joining a petition drive urging the Victoria State government to rescind the religious vilification portion of the racial and religious intolerance act.

Lawmakers in the Australian states of southern and western Australia have already voted to exclude religious vilification from their hate speech laws. Legislation resembling the Victoria racial and religious intolerance act was recently dropped in Great Britain . Christians there expect it to be re-introduced in Parliament if the Labor Party retains its majority after new elections in May.

Muehlenberg said, "This is simply the whole secular-humanist agenda being promoted throughout the Western World. I mean, these people are quite clear—they do want to clamp down on the preaching of the Gospel. They do not want the Christian faith to be proclaimed."

Nalliah and Scott have appealed the tribunal's guilty verdict against them.

Wilson warns that similar religious vilification legislation could be coming soon to a state government near you. He said, "Lawmakers across the world look at different models of new laws that come in. And say, ‘Yeah, we could do that’ and I would say to the American people--stand up for your freedom of speech and don't allow any racial and religious intolerance act to come into America .

Faith Speech = Hate Speech? Laws Target Christians