‘Buffer zone’ violation: Christian pastor fined for preaching John 3:16

A retired Christian pastor has been convicted of, and fined about $500 for, preaching during an open-air service in the United Kingdom.

His subject wasn’t abortion, and he didn’t mention abortion, but because the service was inside an abortion “Safe Access Zone” near Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital, his speech was punished by the government.

The explanation of the case comes from the Christian Institute, which represented Pastor Clive Johnston, who was convicted by Peter King, a judge who ruled against allowing the Christian message from John 3:16, the Bible’s famous verse expressing God’s love for mankind.

“He had no banners or placards, and made no mention of – or allusion to – abortion during his preaching,” the IJ said.

Johnston, in a statement released through his counsel, said, “This is a dark day for Christian freedom. We held a small, open air Sunday service near a hospital. We made no reference whatsoever to the issue of abortion. And yet the buffer zones law is so broad that holding a Sunday service has been found to be a criminal offense. And at 78 years of age I find myself, for the first time, convicted of a crime.”

He said, “There shouldn’t be any public spaces in Northern Ireland where you can be prosecuted and convicted simply for preaching the gospel.”

He said he and his legal team now would discuss their next steps.

The head of the Christian Institute, Ciarán Kelly, said, “Despite assurances to the contrary when this legislation was being considered, we now see that an already controversial and deeply unjust law has now been selectively applied to criminalize gospel preaching. This is creeping censorship. If the ruling stands it will represent a shocking new restriction on freedom of religion and freedom of speech so we will be helping Clive to consider the options for appeal.”

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department, which has been monitoring the case, said, “The United States is still monitoring many buffer zone cases in the U.K., as well as other acts of censorship throughout Europe. The UK’s persecution of silent prayer represents not only an egregious violation of the fundamental right to free speech and religious liberty, but also a concerning departure from the shared values that ought to underpin US-UK relations.”

In the U.K., and the U.S. as well, pro-abortion radicals have insisted on censoring, literally shutting down, all speech that could be perceived as opposing abortion in vast swaths of public property around hospitals and abortion businesses.

There even have been cases where people were arrested for thinking thoughts about abortion in those speech-limited zones.

Johnston was accused of intentionally influencing a protected person, or being reckless as to whether his actions had that effect.