• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Crown Prosecution Service Says it is “No Longer Appropriate” to Quote Some Passages From the Bible in Public

by Toby Young
26 November 2022 6:25 PM

A statement by the U.K.’s main prosecution service says it is “no longer appropriate” to read parts of the Bible aloud in public. Christian groups have called the statement “ill-judged” and “concerning”. The Belfast Newsletter has more.

The story all stems from a confrontation between a man called John Dunn, a soldier-turned-evangelist, and two lesbians.

It took place on the streets of Swindon two years ago.

Mr. Dunn was charged with using “threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby”.

It was alleged he shouted that the women would “burn in hell” and called one of them a “devil woman”.

Mr Dunn denied this, though his lawyers at the Christian Legal Centre said he acknowledged telling them: “It says in the Bible that homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

According to Mr Dunn’s lawyers, the case against him was discontinued during this week because the complainants could not be reached.

While pressing their case against him though, the CPS said the following in writing to the court:

“Whether a statement of Christian belief or not, the court is being asked to consider whether the language has the potential to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

“This document is not the forum for religious debate, but the bible contains other material recognising slavery (Exodus 21:7), the death sentence (Exodus 35:2 and Leviticus 24:16) and cannibalism (Deuteronomy 28:27).

“There are references in the bible which are simply no longer appropriate in modern society and which would be deemed offensive if stated in public.”

The group Christian Concern, which works in tandem with the Christian Legal Centre, has issued statements about this case to the press in the past week, but there has been virtually no media coverage of it, despite its potentially far-reaching implications.

Worth reading in full.

Needless to say, the criminalisation of certain passages in the Bible has yet to illicit a whisper of criticism from the Church of England.

Tags: Crown Prosecution ServiceEvangelical ChristianSwindonThe BibleThe Public Order Act

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

As an Oncologist I Am Seeing People With Stable Cancer Rapidly Progress After Being Forced to Have a Booster

Next Post

News Round-Up

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

23 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Tyrbiter
Tyrbiter
2 years ago

Will the CPS take the same line with the sacred texts of other beliefs? There is either free speech or there is not.

252
0
FerdIII
FerdIII
2 years ago
Reply to  Tyrbiter

1600 verses of anti christian hate speech in Mein Koran. Out of scope for this of course. Lots of Atheist hate speech about other religions – out of scope for this of course. Lots of hate speech from the Queer-Trans propaganda gospel – out of scope for this of course…etc etc.

91
-5
transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
2 years ago

I don’t have strong views one way or the other regarding lesbians, but I don’t think the CPS will inherit the Kingdom of God.

149
0
Ian Rons
Ian Rons
2 years ago

Lord save us from civil servants trying to do exegesis. In fact, it’s eisegesis. Deuteronomy does not “recognise… cannibalism”, that’s absurd. The verse is actually Deuteronomy 28:26, which says (ESV):

And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away.

In this verse, the Hebrew word for “beasts” (which is our word “behemoth”) does not mean humans. Good job, CPS!

As for the death penalty, is it now illegal to argue for the death penalty? That’s a political matter, not for the CPS to prosecute. Take a look at this poll. Were the people responding to that poll committing a crime? Obviously not.

Again with slavery, while abhorrent, I fail to see why anyone stupid enough to argue for slavery should be prosecuted. Nonsense.

Last edited 2 years ago by Ian Rons
179
-1
Nicholas Britton
Nicholas Britton
2 years ago
Reply to  Ian Rons

A spectacular display of religious illiteracy by the Crown Persecution Service

119
-2
FerdIII
FerdIII
2 years ago
Reply to  Ian Rons

Mein Koran demands the enslavement of others.
Don’t Black and Muslims own Black slaves right now today in East Africa?
If you say that in public is that also a hate crime?

75
-4
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
2 years ago

Well I never. I was totally unaware that part of the CPS remit was policing the Bible.

145
-2
RW
RW
2 years ago

I’m looking forward to the CPS applying its theological wisdom to the Quran. Or, for that matter, to Hollywood movies glorifying crime and mass slaughter, ie, most of them.

145
0
D J
D J
2 years ago
Reply to  RW

Koran 9.29?

27
-3
AethelredTheReadier
AethelredTheReadier
2 years ago
Reply to  RW

Yes, I wonder how they go on stoning adulterers and cutting hands off thieves…surely a big much to stomach if one hears someone shouting for it as one wanders down Acacia Avenue in Middling Netherwallop…

5
0
richardw53
richardw53
2 years ago

The institutions are all captured. I am fortunate enough to know a man, now in his eighties, who made a massive contribution to this country during his business career, saving thousands of jobs and encouraging substantial inward investment. I have long felt he deserved recognition for such achievements, and duly looked up the application process for honours – MBE for example. Very simply, there are several forms to complete and a good deal of guidance on what would make for a successful application. Retired people are excluded. You have to be active and delivering service in some community based organisation. You will not be given an award for something you were paid for doing.

Given the influence the honours system has on people, is it any wonder that there is no longer aspiration to contribute economically to the success of our country, and that there is no recognition of the benefits of private sector enterprise to society as a whole?

Sadly, I am not disappointed by this discovery – I must have unconsciously expected to find the situation so.

53
-1
AethelredTheReadier
AethelredTheReadier
2 years ago
Reply to  richardw53

He will be honoured by the appreciation and recognition of people like you and now us. The honours system is a bunch of crap. It’s like getting a Gold Star for being a good student.

4
0
Nicholas Britton
Nicholas Britton
2 years ago

Surely it’s time for the cops to arrest God. Good luck with that one boys!

71
-1
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
2 years ago
Reply to  Nicholas Britton

Given the levels of intelligence and competence they usually display I would expect they have already issued a warrant for his / her (whoops) arrest.

52
-2
NeilParkin
NeilParkin
2 years ago
Reply to  huxleypiggles

I believe God’s pronoun is ‘They’.

God, the Father. God, the son. And Casper the friendly Ghost, if my recollection serves me.

Last edited 2 years ago by NeilParkin
30
-31
AethelredTheReadier
AethelredTheReadier
2 years ago
Reply to  Nicholas Britton

And since we are all manifestations of god in some form or another it would be like god arresting god…

“I arrest myself in case I utter something later that I might regret”
“Oh no I won’t!”
“Oh yes I will!”

2
-5
Zack Stiling
Zack Stiling
2 years ago

Considering how well-informed the CPS would like us to think it is about what the Bible contains, it’s surprising that they should be so ignorant about what it actually is. The Bible is the story, told over thousands of years, of the realisation of God in man, and the promise of salvation which stems from that.

The Old Testament undoubtedly contains material which is out of line with contemporary ethics (not that that in itself should be grounds for prohibition), but the same material is actually out of line with the New Testament, which is, of course, the cornerstone of Christian teaching. The jealous God of the Old Testament is different from the merciful human God of the New. It is not necessarily easy for us to understand how and why this transformation occurs, but the point is that it does occur, and a fundamental part of Christianity is a rejection of the more ethically ambiguous practices which were earlier espoused.

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” And so on and so forth, all in the general vein of “Love thy neighbour as thyself.”

Who today would ‘Love thy neighbour’ when they can #BeKind?

63
-3
Matt Dalby
Matt Dalby
2 years ago
Reply to  Zack Stiling

It’s a long time since I last read the Bible, but I’m sure that Jesus also said “think not that I have come to change the law, for I have come to uphold it”, “until heaven and earth pass away not one jot or tittle of the law shall pass away”, and “he who breaks the least part of the law shall be considered least in the kingdom of heaven”. St. Paul also wrote in one of his epistles, I think it was to Timothy, that all of scripture is inspired by God and is therefore useful for teaching. This all seems to suggest that everything in the Old Testament should be adhered to, and talk of love and forgiveness just shows how many internal contradictions the Bible contains. This is only to be expected in a book written by imperfect men, and not inspired by a perfect deity.

26
-8
Nicholas Britton
Nicholas Britton
2 years ago
Reply to  Zack Stiling

My personal view is that between the Old Testament and New Testament times there was an evolution in man’s understanding of God. The law of God is enshrined in the Ten Commandments. There was also a proliferation of intricate laws as seen in Leviticus for example. These other laws were most likely human constructs based on the commandments and sometimes a reflection of contemporary culture. The NT exposes the weaknesses of living merely by laws. For example, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” when the adulterous woman was facing a lynch mob. Of course, Jesus was not making light of her sin or saying she would not be held to account, just it was not the job of her peers to do that. So I don’t think God had changed his mind about anything but man’s understanding of God was evolving.

Last edited 2 years ago by Nicholas Britton
34
-1
Covid-1984
Covid-1984
2 years ago

Don’t worry lads. The CPS will unleash the full force of the Keystone Cops aka our police force.

19
0
godknowsimgood
godknowsimgood
2 years ago

It would be quite ironic if someone was prosecuted and taken to court for quoting from the bible and then in court took the oath by swearing on the bible!

49
0
JayBee
JayBee
2 years ago

What can you say….?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/11/26/jesus-could-have-transgender-claims-cambridge-dean/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11462983/Westminster-council-start-using-phrase-global-majority-dropping-term-BAME.html

3
0
JXB
JXB
2 years ago

The CPS does not make law, nor adjudicate it.

All places of worship are public.

it will be interesting to see what happens when quotations from the Bible are used in public ceremonies like weddings and funeral of Royalty for example.

18
0

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

The Sceptic EP.37: David Frost on Starmer’s EU Surrender, James Price on Broken Britain and David Shipley on Lucy Connolly’s Failed Appeal

by Richard Eldred
23 May 2025
7

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

What Happened to Systemic Common Sense?

26 May 2025
by C.J. Strachan

White Actors in Brian Cox Play Forced to Take Anti-Oppression Course

26 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

News Round-Up

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

GB News’s ‘Anti-woke’ Comedy Show Faces Axe After Thousands of Complaints

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

How Jubilation Turned to Tragedy on Liverpool’s Darkest Day Since Hillsborough

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

What Happened to Systemic Common Sense?

53

How Jubilation Turned to Tragedy on Liverpool’s Darkest Day Since Hillsborough

30

GB News’s ‘Anti-woke’ Comedy Show Faces Axe After Thousands of Complaints

26

News Round-Up

24

Tommy Robinson Released From Prison

23

Alasdair MacIntyre 1929-2025

27 May 2025
by James Alexander

Lies, Damned Lies and Casualty Numbers in Ancient History

26 May 2025
by Guy de la Bédoyère

Lord Frost: “The Boriswave Was a Catastrophic Error”

26 May 2025
by Laurie Wastell

The Legal Case Against the AfD Has Collapsed

25 May 2025
by Eugyppius

Plebeians Can No Longer Rant About Bloody Murder

25 May 2025
by James Alexander

POSTS BY DATE

November 2022
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  
« Oct   Dec »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

POSTS BY DATE

November 2022
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  
« Oct   Dec »

DONATE

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

What Happened to Systemic Common Sense?

26 May 2025
by C.J. Strachan

White Actors in Brian Cox Play Forced to Take Anti-Oppression Course

26 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

News Round-Up

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

GB News’s ‘Anti-woke’ Comedy Show Faces Axe After Thousands of Complaints

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

How Jubilation Turned to Tragedy on Liverpool’s Darkest Day Since Hillsborough

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

What Happened to Systemic Common Sense?

53

How Jubilation Turned to Tragedy on Liverpool’s Darkest Day Since Hillsborough

30

GB News’s ‘Anti-woke’ Comedy Show Faces Axe After Thousands of Complaints

26

News Round-Up

24

Tommy Robinson Released From Prison

23

Alasdair MacIntyre 1929-2025

27 May 2025
by James Alexander

Lies, Damned Lies and Casualty Numbers in Ancient History

26 May 2025
by Guy de la Bédoyère

Lord Frost: “The Boriswave Was a Catastrophic Error”

26 May 2025
by Laurie Wastell

The Legal Case Against the AfD Has Collapsed

25 May 2025
by Eugyppius

Plebeians Can No Longer Rant About Bloody Murder

25 May 2025
by James Alexander

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment
Perfecty
Do you wish to receive notifications of new articles?
Notifications preferences