In Sweden, a model state according to many U.S. lefties,
Pentecostal pastor Ake Green was sentenced to one month in prison
for a sermon in which he condemned homosexuality. He's now
been acquitted by the Supreme Court of Stockholm, to the
chagrin of Swedish gay activists:
Gay right groups have condemned the verdict, saying that it makes a nonsense of the law. "It is extremely serious when the church is turned into a free zone for agitation," said Soren Andersson, chairman of gay rights group RFSL. ... Prosecutor Stefan Johansson argued that Green had gone much further than the Bible, and had expressed his own views. ...
Andersson said that the judgment showed the need for the law to be strengthened. ... "Agitation and threats, such as those uttered by Ake Green, limit LGBT people's rights and opportunities to participate in debate."
OK, even if the sermon was over the top, barring what a pastor can preach in front of his own congregation shows an appalling lack of respect for basic civil liberties. Sadly, it's what many censorious gays would like to see enforced here as well, and why moderates become fearful of "the gay agenda."
For more, check out this analysis on the
Swedish
Law Blog (no kidding!). Krister Bruzelius comments:
The sermon does not seem to fit very well with the kind of language one would expect to see in a speech contrary to the hate crime legislation. ... Neither does [Green's] closing statement in his sermon: "We must never think that some people, because of their sinful lives, would end up outside of grace." ... Nothing about killing all gays at all; only a disgusting expression of assumed moral superiority over sinners.
--Stephen H. Miller