Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Cameron’s extremism orders ‘could criminalise traditional Christian teaching’ - UPDATED


New measures to curb hate preachers could be a ‘disaster area’ for mainstream religions, says head of top Anglican theological college

Traditional Christian teaching could effectively be “criminalised” in some settings under David Cameron’s plans for new anti-extremist banning orders, a top Anglican theologian and former Parliamentary draftsman has warned.

The Rev Dr Mike Ovey, a former lawyer and now principal of Oak Hill Theological College in London, a training school for Church of England clergy, said proposals for new “Extremism Disruption Orders” could be a “disaster area” for people from all the mainstream religions and none.

Mr Cameron and Theresa May have signalled that the new orders, planned as part of the Government’s Counter-Extremism Bill, would not curb the activities of radical Islamist clerics but the promotion of other views deemed to go against “British values” even if it is non-violent and legal.

Ministers have defined British values in the past as including broad notions like democracy, tolerance and the rule of law. Keep reading

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Government's extremism orders could spell 'disaster' for religious people says Bible college principal

New: Who counts as an extremist?

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