A Big Win Against the Rainbow Behemoth

Every once in a while we have a win for free speech and for religious liberty. Not often mind you, but occasionally. And one of the biggest threats to our freedoms come from the rainbow tyrants. They are seeking to silence all dissent, and are working overtime in their campaign of anti-Christian hatred and bigotry.

Thus when we do win a case like this, it is terrific news indeed, and well worth sharing. One such win has just occurred in the UK. I had written about this story over three years ago. I entitled it, “Your Choice: Homosexual Hegemony or Free Speech”. In it I quoted from a news report:

A Christian postgraduate student has been expelled from his course, effectively ending his chances of a career as a social worker, for voicing opposition to gay marriage in a Facebook discussion. Felix Ngole, a 38-year-old father of four, expressed support for Kim Davis, the county clerk from Kentucky in the US who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licences after the introduction of same-sex unions in September last year. He argued that homosexual activity is against the teaching of the Bible, quoting a verse from Leviticus describing it as an “abomination”.

The post, from his private Facebook account, was part of a discussion thread in which other users voiced their opinions on all sides of the debate. It was not until two months later that he was summoned to a disciplinary hearing at Sheffield University after a fellow student complained about his post. He said he was initially not even told what he was accused of doing. He was eventually told that it involved breaching social work guidelines on “personal conduct” and “bringing the profession into disrepute”.
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2016/03/01/your-choice-homosexual-hegemony-or-free-speech/

Given a very similar battle here in Australia with rugby player and devout Christian Israel Folau vs Rainbow Big Brother, this is encouraging indeed. After three years of legal battles, Felix Ngole has finally been vindicated. As Christian Concern has said about the ruling:

In a landmark judgment in the case of Felix Ngole, the Court of Appeal has upheld the rights of Christians to freely express their faith and overturned a High Court decision. The crucial outcome represents a major development of the law which results in Christians now having the legal right to express Biblical views on social media or elsewhere without fear for their professional careers.

This is the first Court of Appeal judgment regarding freedom of expression of Biblical views which sets limits on the rights of professional regulators to limit free speech on social media; the judgment will be an authoritative statement of the law which is likely to be relied upon in hundreds of current and future cases.
https://www.christianconcern.com/our-issues/freedom/felix-ngole-wins-appeal-in-victory-for-christian-freedoms

Felix said this about the victory:

This is great news, not only for me and my family, but for everyone who cares about freedom of speech, especially for those working in or studying for caring professions. As Christians we are called to care for and serve others, and publicly and privately we must be free to express our beliefs, especially when asked, without fear of losing our livelihoods.

I have suffered tremendously as a result of how I was treated by the University of Sheffield and I feel that four years of my life have been taken away from me. Despite all this, I feel overwhelming joy that what I have lost will be so much gain to Christians today and in the future as a result of this important ruling for freedom.

And Andrea Williams, the head of Christian Concern, spoke about the case as follows:

This judgment must send a resounding message to universities and employers across the land. Christians and others should be allowed to express their views. This is what free speech means. No one has freedom not to be offended. We must be able to disagree with tolerance, and not with silencing or bullying. Places of work, and universities in particular, should not be places where certain views are deemed politically incorrect and worthy of expulsion.

This judgment means that we are free to speak, free to express Christian views, to advocate for those views at university, in the classroom, and at work. Christians should use our freedom of speech and unashamedly proclaim Biblical truth, however unpopular or out of fashion it may be. The truth will win out in the end. We hope that this judgment encourages Christians to be bold and fearless in expressing their Christian faith at work, at university, in church or elsewhere. All truth is found in Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1 we are told:

“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together”.

The world needs the truth for in the Truth all things hold together. And it is by the truth we are all set free. Felix is exactly the kind of person that we want in social work. Today he stands vindicated; today justice has been done. But it’s not just for him; it’s for us, the Church here in the UK. Let’s ensure that this emboldens us to speak of the life-giving good news that is found in Jesus Christ.
https://www.christianconcern.com/our-issues/freedom/a-victory-for-christians-everywhere

This was a major victory – all the more so given the David versus Goliath nature of the battle. The militants had the full backing and support of most of the institutions of power and influence, including a hostile mainstream media and the universities.

But a handful of believers who serve a mighty God have prevailed, against all the odds. Andrea and Christian Concern deserve a lot of credit here. But at the end of the day we know this was a team effort: God’s people working with the God of the universe, helping to overturn an unjust and discriminatory legal decision. One person plus God is always a majority.

We must bear in mind however that for every victory like this, there may well be a hundred decisions that go against Christians. All around the West anti-Christian bigotry is on the rise, and on a daily basis we find believers losing their jobs, being fined, and even jailed, for seeking to resist the pink mafia.

The battles continue, and the war is far from over. But it is nice to get the occasional win. Bless you Felix and keep standing strong.

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20 Replies to “A Big Win Against the Rainbow Behemoth”

  1. If someone is overweight they do not like being told that they are fat. They will be offended by it. They are offended by the truth. I believe that this is the same as what the LGBTIQP movement is doing. If you say anything negative about LGBTIQP you will be in trouble. They do not want to hear the honest truth! They call it “hate speech”. They are offended because you are telling the truth.

  2. Praise God. The high court in the US has given a win to the right to speak God’s Word openly in expressing one s core belief. Great news Bill.

  3. Yes great news.
    And it will help us here if our laws are similar; I don’t know if they are.

    Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has just launched a petition calling for a Religious Freedom Act in Australia. https://www.facebook.com/Milan4MP/videos/2287280021600608/

    If this is done, it has to be so very carefully drafted, for not all religions are equal, neither are they all benign even in their most basic faith statements. Neither is there any consistency of interpretation with the faiths, for it seems nearly anybody can claim nearly anything as religious and which should be treated as “holy” before our laws.

    I am also very nervous about this from the other point of view, for many such protection legislation projects have been used to work against the original intentions of that legislation and have failed to give protection as they were designed.

    The exception phrase in the petition, “such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others;” is wide open to interpretation and can, and will, be used to reduce the impact of the legislation.

    How we can guarantee a balance between religious freedom and action that limits the non-benign, is anybody’s guess.

    WE CANNOT AFFORD TO GUESS

  4. Great news! Thank you for sharing it with us Bill. It has come at a good time because our Prime Minister has to make an announcement on the findings of the Inquiry into religious freedom and freedom of speech.

  5. Through Bill, thank you again for your information John Miller. I appreciate your contribution here.
    Mark Bryant

  6. No offence to you, Bill, but those two Christian Concern posts are well worth reading in full.
    It will be interesting to read Sheffield University’s response to Felix’s fitness to practise.
    And for us Aussies, how did Israel Folau’s post have any effect on his ability to play rugby? I don’t remember any Wallabies or Waratahs, in all the games he played, saying his views affected his ability to play in the same team as them, or for them to play in the same team as him.

  7. ACR 99 – California Attempts to Force Pastors to Adopt LGBTQ Agenda
    https://conservativefiringline.com/acr-99-california-attempts-to-force-pastors-to-adopt-lgbtq-agenda/

    I have not seen much commentary on this, though from the few other articles on this subject, it would appear this recent resolution from California’s legislature is not legally enforceable in itself.

    Even so, it is of concern as a possible indicator of future developments, particularly for Christians in California.

  8. LGBTQ lawfare

    Bernard Gaynor
    Facing very large lawfare costs.
    https://mailchi.mp/bernardgaynor/u9ceet3738-840765?e=f94c5a8008

    Israel Folau
    You know the story.

    Bill Muehlenberg
    Could expect a knock on the door.

    Marijke Rancie a ‘Safe Schools’ TV ad mother
    Facing massive lawfare costs.
    https://m.facebook.com/politicalpostingmumma/

    Pickering Post conservative blog
    Has had cyber attacks from unknown sources.
    https://www.pickeringpost.com/

    Micheal Smith conservative blogger
    Has had cyber attacks from unknown sources.
    https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/

  9. Of course the legal win is only small part because he will still have to face up to his detractors, many of whom could hold much of his future in their hands. This is a huge part of the problem and while people condemn people like Felix Ngole and Israel Folau and Christians in general for their opposition to sexual immorality, without seeing that what they are doing is the same, on a secular basis, as what they are condemning, by vilifying Christianity, then there will be no progress here. This is just one more reason why free speech is so imperative and its importance must be reinforced.

    What I would like to see, and is much more valid than what the LGBT lobby is claiming, is for all the people within the ABC and SBS who have vilified Christianity to be put out of their job. To me this should be an absolute and obvious priority. They have not only vilified Christianity but have worked hard to shut down free speech and it is because we have allowed people like that to get away with their abuse of power, that we are in this position in the first place. These people are opposing very basic human rights and are getting away with using vast amounts of public funding and their very privileged position, to get away with it.

    What we continue to see, however, is people claiming rights for homosexuals to make a living, for example, (even though homosexuals make more money and are substantially better off on average than heterosexuals and are in no way prevented from making a living) yet they are very happy to put Christians out of their businesses and out of their chosen careers and vilify Christianity. Hypocrisy much.

    Homosexuals and homosexually influenced organizations think nothing of not employing, or destroying the business of, a Christian who opposes their deviancy, yet we still have the Labor Party attempting to force parents to not have a say over who teaches their children on the patently false, and fundamental rights opposing basis, that this is preventing homosexuals from making a living.

    As we have seen here, if many in the UK have their way Christians will even be excluded from social work which, of course, would make it just as dysfunctional as everything else they attempt to exclude Christians from. We should not forget that this lobby group has already been successful in the UK in removing a Christian from the judiciary there. That, in itself, is extraordinarily and hugely concerning, especially when you consider the tenuous reprieve this ruling has given.

  10. I think everyone has at some time in their life come across the “can’t say that” mob, the occurrence of hearing that phrase can ring in our ears from birth to death.
    The saying is almost endemic. As preschoolers, our parents often said you can’t say that, and although mostly what was said made good sense to the one who said it, mostly though they weren’t asked to “please explain” their reason for saying that.
    This type of close down of people who have something to say gets more aggressive as we get older until we reach academia and that’s where it seems now the norm of “you can’t say that” to be backed up by mindless aggressiveness and violence.
    We must recognize the validity of someones absolute right to contribute, enlighten, validate, argue even defend their beliefs and opinions that may, in fact, seem indefensible at the time
    But for me, I’m encouraged by the word of God in the Beatitudes Mtt 5:5. “The meek will inherit the earth” and the meekest of us all is coming back in His glory.

  11. Once upon a time a man called Martin Luther risked a tortuous death at the hands of the ruling political Roman church. By his courage, he made the way for the Bible to be printed in the common language so that the common man, hungry for the Word of God could gain literacy to be able to read for themselves. He faced the hierarchy of the day and brought breakthrough in his time. Today God is raising such people of courage to carve out legal precedent and rights for the Church to continue marching forward and God has shown that He is before us, behind us, beside us and living through us.

  12. Felix Ngole’s case may contain some “points of instruction” in the details of the court proceedings that could be used with profit by legal counsel in Mr Folau’s matter. Australian law is derivative from British law, although I seem to recall, Australians may no longer take legal appeals before the Privy Council of the U.K. . The Christian Concern website includes links to excerpts from the court transcripts and to the entire proceedings transcripts of the case [ See: https://www.christianconcern.com/our-issues/freedom-of-speech/key-exchanges-from-the-felix-ngole-court-transcript ].

    I get the impression that the “new morality” espoused by the Rainbow cause is set on placing the “old moralities” of past generations on trial before the courts and tribunals of the world… Having manufactured their own semblance of the high moral ground, the latest waves of the Sexual Revolution will seek to defend their sand-dune fortress against all comers with utmost vigour.

  13. We need to celebrate all the victories we can get against “Big Gay” as I think it could be harder and harder to win down the road. The globalist, news media, etc. are all aboard the “Big Gay” train. But there are some encouraging news like the ones showing Millennials starting to resist all this LGBT nonsense being thrown at them. We need to pray.

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