Is This Birmingham or Riyadh?

Western Europe and the United States, where the ideas of personal liberty come from, continues to see attempts to curtail these personal liberties. In some instances, it is a creative reinterpretation of freedom of speech that seeks to take away that protection for uncomfortable and politically incorrect speech. Rather than protecting speech, some wish to protect people from speech.

And that brings me to a story involving the West Midlands Police (UK) and religious freedom. Story from the Telegraph.

A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham.

The evangelists say they were threatened with arrest for committing a "hate crime" and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. The incident will fuel fears that "no-go areas" for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed in The Sunday Telegraph this year.

Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, both full-time evangelical ministers, have launched legal action against West Midlands Police, claiming the officer infringed their right to profess their religion.

[...]

The preachers, both ministers in Birmingham, were handing out leaflets on Alum Rock Road in February when they started talking to four Asian youths.

A police community support officer (PCSO) interrupted the conversation and began questioning the ministers about their beliefs.

They said when the officer realised they were American, although both have lived in Britain for many years, he launched a tirade against President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Cunningham said: "I told him that this had nothing to do with the gospel we were preaching but he became very aggressive.

"He said we were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message. He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station."

[...]

The ministers claim he also advised them not to return to the area. As he walked away, the PCSO said: "You have been warned. If you come back here and get beaten up, well you have been warned".

West Midlands Police, who refused to apologise, said the incident had been "fully investigated" and the officer would be given training in understanding hate crime and communication.

What is the world coming to? The logic of this police officer is quite tortured. Basic religious freedom is now considered a hate crime? Sounds like something you'd hear out of Saudi Arabia or Iran. Proselytizing for your religion should be a right in a free nation, and no police employee be allowed to stop it.

There is a slight possibility that this was just the actions of a rogue police officer and that the West Midlands police doesn't condone such actions. If that's true, the West Midlands Police should publicly denounce this behavior and discipline the officer. Failure to do so makes it look like the West Midlands Police don't have a problem with their employees trying to stop people from exercising freedom of religion. It would also show that political correctness and trump basic rights. The fact that the police have refused to apologize does not reflect well upon the West Midlands Police.

This is the same department that attempted to punish documentary filmmakers for exposing radical Islamist clerics to public scrutiny. Based on that incident, I wouldn't be surprised if the police department has no problems with these actions. I'm waiting to be proven wrong.