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DUP somersaults on the plan to limit open-air preaching in Belfast

Alderman Kingston hypocritically makes no mention of his support at the first for the plan in his latest statement

DUP Councillors on Belfast City Council have called for a reconsideration of proposed new bye-laws which would affect buskers, street preachers, protestors and information stalls in the city centre area.

DUP Group Leader, Alderman Brian Kingston, said that the DUP would be proposing at the Council meeting on Monday, 1st November, that the matter be referred back to Committee rather than progressing on to consultation with statutory bodies. (more…)

Christians opposed to Belfast City Council plan to limit open-air prepare a briefing on the subject

Following on the news about the Belfast City Council’s plan to limit open-air preaching, concerned Christians have prepared a briefing on the subject.

Briefing Note: Belfast City Council

City Centre Speech Permits – October 2021

The proposal involves two key issues within city centre.

1. Permits for amplification.
2. Permits for stalls, literature, and other display materials.

Some have felt this necessary because of some complaints involving Christian and LGBT activists, pro-life groups, and buskers.

This briefing note lays out several reasons why permits are not the correct way to handle this problem. It also demonstrates some further problems speech permits will create.

Free speech as a principle

The British tradition, especially, after the Glorious Revolution has valued freedom of conscience, civil and religious liberty. This is enshrined in law and practice.

You do have a right not to be threatened by speech. However, you do not have a right to be comfortable or not offended by speech. If offence was an offence – no one would be able to speak freely. The right to offend is not just a moral right but a legal one.

The very use of the word “permit” suggests that the Council has the authority to determine free expression in the public square. No public body has the moral authority to deny rights to citizens or organisations and there is no doubt this will be tried in court.

Read the entire Speech Permits Briefing Note

David Attenborough – wrong from beginning to end!

HE IS WRONG ABOUT THE ‘BEGINNING’ AND HE IS ALSO WRONG ABOUT THE ‘END’!!

A headline of a report of David Attenborough’s latest climate change prediction reads: “End of the world: David Attenborough sends ‘catastrophic’ warning: ‘Not false alarm!’”

Mr Attenborough is well known for his nature programmes on television, all of which are enjoyable as long as you do not listen to his comments on the origins of the various creatures featured in them!

Attenborough is an ardent believer in ‘Evolution’, that is, the world that now is and all that is in it evolved out of a ‘beginning’ which neither he nor any of his deluded compatriots can agree on! Consequently, his programmes are filled with gratuitous misinformation and downright fairy tales.

He ‘explains’ away the wonders of God’s creation and substitutes his daft notions of the creature altering itself over countless millions of years to meet the challenges it faced. Just how, when it took so long for the creature to change in order to survive, it did not succumb to the threat long before it was able to ‘evolve’ to cope with the threat that it faced, he and his ilk never explain!

The Christian believes the Bible’s record of how things began. Genesis 1 and 2 give us full details of the supernatural origins of the physical creation and of the human race. Supportive evidence of that account is everywhere to be found. An abundance of the gatherings of that evidence may be found on hundreds, if not thousands of websites. Some are much more worthy than others it is freely acknowledged. But convincing and conclusive rebuttals of the falsehoods of ‘evolution’ may easily be found in book or website form. (more…)