₦airaland Forum

People its becoming clear even to the biggest aetheist that the end is near and that the scripture is being fulfilled check this story out.

Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships.

The 42-year-old Baptist, who has preached Christianity in Workington, Cumbria for years, said he did not mention homosexuality while delivering a sermon from the top of a stepladder, but admitted telling a passing shopper that he believed it went against the word of God.

Police officers are alleging that he made the remark in a voice loud enough to be overheard by others and have charged him with using abusive or insulting language, contrary to the Public Order Act.

Mr McAlpine, who was taken to the police station in the back of a marked van and locked in a cell for seven hours on April 20, said the incident was among the worst experiences of his life.

“I felt deeply shocked and humiliated that I had been arrested in my own town and treated like a common criminal in front of people I know," he said.

“My freedom was taken away on the hearsay of someone who disliked what I said, and I was charged under a law that doesn't apply.”

Christian campaigners have expressed alarm that the Public Order Act, introduced in 1986 to tackle violent rioters and football hooligans, is being used to curb religious free speech.

Sam Webster, a solicitor-advocate for the Christian Institute, which is supporting Mr McAlpine, said it is not a crime to express the belief that homosexual conduct is a sin.

“The police have a duty to maintain public order but they also have a duty to defend the lawful free speech of citizens,” he said.

“Case law has ruled that the orthodox Christian belief that homosexual conduct is sinful is a belief worthy of respect in a democratic society."

Mr McAlpine was handing out leaflets explaining the Ten Commandments or offering a “ticket to heaven” with a church colleague on April 20, when a woman came up and engaged him in a debate about his faith.

During the exchange, he says he quietly listed homosexuality among a number of sins referred to in 1 Corinthians, including blasphemy, fornication, adultery and drunkenness.

After the woman walked away, she was approached by a PCSO who spoke with her briefly and then walked over to Mr McAlpine and told him a complaint had been made, and that he could be arrested for using racist or homophobic language.

The street preacher said he told the PCSO: “I am not homophobic but sometimes I do say that the Bible says homosexuality is a crime against the Creator”.

He claims that the PCSO then said he was homosexual and identified himself as the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender liaison officer for Cumbria police. Mr McAlpine replied: “It’s still a sin.”

The preacher then began a 20 minute sermon, in which he says he mentioned drunkenness and adultery, but not homosexuality. Three regular uniformed police officers arrived during the address, arrested Mr McAlpine and put him in the back of a police van.

At the station, he was told to empty his pockets and his mobile telephone, belt and shoes were confiscated. Police took fingerprints, a palm print, a retina scan and a DNA swab.

He was later interviewed, charged under Sections 5 (1) and (6) of the Public Order Act and released on bail on the condition that he did not preach in public.

Mr McAlpine pleaded not guilty at a preliminary hearing on Friday at Wokingham magistrates court and is now awaiting a trial date.

The Public Order Act, which outlaws the unreasonable use of abusive language likely to cause distress, has been used to arrest religious people in a number of similar cases.

Harry Hammond, a pensioner, was convicted under Section 5 of the Act in 2002 for holding up a sign saying “Stop immorality. Stop Homosexuality. Stop Lesbianism. Jesus is Lord” while preaching in Bournemouth.

Stephen Green, a Christian campaigner, was arrested and charged in 2006 for handing out religious leaflets at a Gay Pride festival in Cardiff. The case against him was later dropped.

Cumbria police said last night that no one was available to comment on Mr McAlpine’s case.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7668448/Christian-preacher-arrested-for-saying-homosexuality-is-a-sin.html

Eldee!!! I know this is coming late but Happy birthday my school mate/co-poster.lol. Old man i go buy you hair dye as present

Ruggedman proves once again that he's a jackass extraordinaire.

Goodluck no be mumu after all. I really like the guy after all is said and done. Smart,quiet and doesnt waste words. a focused chap. i just pray he resists the sit-tight devil and honourably declines participation in 2011 elections. that way he can conduct real elections and make a difference.

na lie o. i dated a couple of ''jamo'' girls and they're very exciting in and out of the sheets. just be careful because dem too dey born

When i was in primary school, Maryland Convent to be precise, there was a gambling house right opposite the school called ''amusement'' that an older cousin took me to once when he wanted to gamble a little. To cut a long story short, the bright lights and space age sounds thrilled the hell out of my kiddie mind. i got my hands on 30 kobo (yep it was in the eighties) a few days later and i sneaked over there because it was close to my house and tried my hands on the bingo machine.

The place was full of hard looking men but it didnt scare me off. On my first try i put the coin in, drew the handle and got 777. an avelanche of coins came pouring out of the machine and all the tough looking people in there eyed my booty like they were going to pounce on me. I think i got about 4 naira or something. I did it every day till my teacher saw me coming out of there one day and took my name and class. I got reported to my parents and got the flogging of my life. i wasnt allowed to go to school for a week and entertained my self with stealing my dad's air rifle to shoot bottles in the backyard till i got caught doing that too, but thats another story

This is a very hard one but ''Yahoozee'' blew me away. For its time,the cinematography, choreography, concept,editing , i could go on and on was awesome. I bouyght the vcd and watched it more than two hundred times. Still love it. a very distant second is ''Olori oko''

Meeen I've gotten my butt locked up sha. just once. I was at a club in ikoyi sitting close to some guy and his mini-entourage.  i noticed his chick was lookin at me. i got tired ( a bit tipsy)and opted to go home. i went to the gents and on the way out i noticed the guy and his bodyguard waiting outside. the guy thought i had been eyeing his chick and threw a punch at me. to cut a long story short i made sure he wouldnt be kissing his biatch without pain that nite. the police came and arrested all of us and would you believe let the ''money-miss-road'' go free and threw me in a cell. I suffer no be small. there's no justice in naija. Everyone pray b4 you leave your homes in the morning

Its very true. James Ibori is probably crapping on himself in fear. This goes to show that no condition is permanent. i'm no fan of ribadu because of his pro-obj leanings but I feel safer with ribadu back in the saddle to checkmate come of the really dangerous and billionaire power broker rogues running around financing elections

This road scam is one of the biggest cases of governmental fraud we may ever witness. I live at Ajah and ply that road daily. I also pass through the toll gate near lekki phase 1. They havent started charging tolls but I wonder why this so called progressive government has to allow them erect a massive tollgate with air conditioned booths (each booth has a split unit a.c) when the road isnt even 10% completed. I asked an LCC worker when they intend to start taking the tolls and he said reluctantly told me June 2010 was the planned month.

What the f#$% are these people doing? Its very sad that these islamists in the north are pulling us back with all their might while the rest of Africa is moving ahead into the light. From a legal point of view its not even feasible because twitter and facebook are outside of his cockroach jurisdiction.

This is a very hard question to answer but here goes my two favourites:

1. Mode 9 Featuring Terry the Rapman - ''Spasmodic''

2. MI - ''Anoti''

Just saw on CNN that Goodluck has finally dissolved the cabinet. I hope he doesnt adopt the regular script when appointing replacements. We sure as hell dont need Lukman, Dora Akunyili, Aondoakaa, Babalola and their ilk. Dont quote me but Fola Adeola may fill one of the most sensitive posts. Nigerians are certainly very sensitive nowadays so he had better act right

If he can get people from outside the pool of vampires it'll be a breath of fresh air.

@ofoka/eldee

DAAAAAAMN !!! you're killing me with great memories. how could I ever forget Mr Martins!!! That man flogged the life out of me. I remember how scared we all used to be of him like he was some cyborg flogging machine. What class and house were you guys? (ofoka,chamotex and osasp) I was in 'J' class and the greaaaat Alpha Jet house.

@eldee

I was at AFSS from js1 - js3. ?I left in 1990.The naija song that was a signature tune then was ''Omoge'' by Mike Okri and ''send down the rain'' Were you there when mrs angulu was principal?

@Eldee

Woah Dude! Did you attend AFSS ikeja

@ TIPPY TOP

I can agree with the logic but factually i cant agree that anybody abroad with parents and family in nigeria would want war to come to his/her family just to stay on wherever they are. Maybe you're confusing calls for secession with calls for war. A call for secession though undesirable by most people should be analysed on its merit or lack of. Nigeria is in a precarious position, even more than it was during the june 12 issue. The danger is not secession but a much much more serious threat of anarchy and implosion that may lead to what we only see in our nightmares. God forbid but we have to look critically at the signs of our times and comment objectively.

Yep. Charly Boy is definitely insane or totally irreponsible

Ruggedman threw an open diss on facebook!

Its funny dat only modenine fans are getn all worked up!

Its two ways,either all wut rugged said is true and applies to modenine! Or u guys jst envy his success! I mean u guys can say wuteva u want to say,ruggedman has made more fortune 4rm rap music than any other rapper on the naija scene.

If u guys think modenine is the best in nigeria,fine. . .ruggedman might not be as good as modenine,but common he has held his own down over the years and there is notn can do about it.

I find it rather silly than objective,wen u guys think every rapper is wack cos he dsnt do it the modenine way! Lmao,who told u guys that rap shld be done in a particular way?

I watchd a dagrin interview where he was like he raps in yoruba cos he feels he cnt do english better than dem yankee rappers and he knows them yankee rappers cnt do it better than him in yoruba! Am sure we all know the outcome, name one album by modenine that has done as good as c.e.o by dagrin

If ruggedman wants to do pidgin and commercial rap,fine!

Wuts with a diss track if u aint makn nada from it? Its like kids thrown stones 4 notn.

@Tosinaded

My emphasis is on the bold words. So you gree say ruggedman no reach

Ruggedman is the biggest clown of the new decade. His own new album is CRAP! and he's trying to stir up controversy but it wont help his butt, not one bit. Everyone knows he's the new definition of WACK. He should focus on keeping up with the new heavy hitters like Da Grin and MI. Mugu wey hunger nearly kill those days is making noise about success like he's Femi Kuti or something. He never recovered from ''Deathblow'' and it shows

Why cant good old jack or jackass gowon just keep his mouth shut. He should apply his energy to comforting the survivors of the horrors of the last weekend in jos.the old man has lived to see the end results of his ''gallantry'' in 1966. His ''one nigeria'' has become a banana republic, labelled terrorist state, and joke of a country in an era where ghana, gabon, benin, gambia etc are emerging as prime examples of nationhood.

Exorcist
Jeepers Creepers (Sick movie)
The hills have eyes (2006)
I spit on your grave

More dangerous than muslims trying to kill everyone including women and children who isnt a muslim is the complacency and nauseating desire by xtians to be politically correct when they should call a spade a spade. Xtians world over have never woken up, picked up guns and knives to slaughter people for not sharing their faith. So lets not get it twisted

Crap! The sultan should address the evils committed by muslims in the name of religion and quit comparing who has done more damage in america or israel. What horrors or crime have xtians committed that he can mention. Its distasteful that he's not making a strong statement about what happened over the weekend rather than try to politicise the matter. As a leader and spokesperson for and of all muslims in nigeria, he dissapointed the world with that statement

Islam is the common denominator in 8 out of 10 conflicts in every part of the world. Whether we agree or not the screw is turning and its going to explode if we're not prayerful. I dont know why those people just cant live in peace with the rest of the world. In india they're fighting sikhs and hindus, in china they're trying but the communist government has brutally kept them quiet, in muslim dominated parts of england (bradford in particular) non-muslims are intimidated and harrassed. Xtians by nature do not fight but turn the other cheek thats what is saving all these islamic warriors otherwise they would have been wiped out long ago.

So far as some shallow brained, chronically prejudiced pipsqueaks here continue pissin on the memories of millions of Igbos who died in and before the war, we'll continue to have all these online tribal battles. I personally cant stand it when i read crap that disrespects the horrors my people suffered during the war. Who caused what and why aside why cant some of you have a little respect. if people would stick to the topic of the posts and resist natural tribalistic instincts we would be able to share more knowledge

Only a nut brained idiot would argue that the war was not against igbos. Its so obvious its funny