Swedish Pastor Defends Anti-Gay Sermon

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051109/D8DOV1603.html

A Pentecostal pastor charged with hate speech for denouncing homosexuality as a "cancerous tumor" defended his views in Sweden's highest court Wednesday, saying gay sex was an abnormality on a par with pedophilia.

Ake Green, 64, delivered a fiery anti-gay sermon two years ago that triggered a legal battle testing the limits of Sweden's freedom of speech.

Green told the Supreme Court that his sermon was meant to warn gays that their lifestyle will result in an "eternal divorce" from God.


bigotry has hidden behind the bible for how ever many hundreds of years now

I'm sure this what Jesus wanted

Jesus and his 12 merry men :evilgrin:

I don't have the strength right now

to Kansas. There's an American lunatic fundie cult waiting right there for him.

A Pentecostal pastor charged with hate speech for denouncing homosexuality as a "cancerous tumor" defended his views in Sweden's highest court Wednesday, saying gay sex was an abnormality on a par with pedophilia.

Ake Green, 64, delivered a fiery anti-gay sermon two years ago that triggered a legal battle testing the limits of Sweden's freedom of speech.

<snip>

Audio broadcasts from the much-awaited hearing were carried live on nationwide TV, which is unusual in Sweden. The hearing was expected to last one day, but a ruling could take several weeks.

Green became the first clergyman convicted under Sweden's hate crimes legislation, which was modified in 2003 to include attacks against homosexuals. An appeals court overturned the ruling earlier this year, but Sweden's chief prosecutor appealed the acquittal at the Supreme Court.

http://www.nyblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=3436

crime list? Maybe some states have it but not all. Correct me if I am wrong.


Wouldn't Dobson and Perkins, and (of course - Phelps) be guilty of a hate crime? Heck even the KKK'ers don't spew anti-anything in their gatherings. They just yell about white power. If they were yelling something like: Kill the Jews, Blacks________)(enter race or religion here) they could be arrested right?

I wonder if some of the states with anti-gay hate legislation could get Dobson and his Ilk for hate crimes.

... even if sexual orientation is added to federal laws because religious speech is generally considered beyond the bounds of such laws (just as churches are exempted from employment non-discrimination laws so they won't be "forced to hire them homo-seck-shuls").

or a nationality and not in violation of the law?

What if a preacher says: "Jews are a cancerous tumor in this country and need to be eradicated".

That sounds like it could incite violence.

... but it's still considered "protected speech" as when Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan made a number of anti-Jewish statements several years ago.

The fine line is crossed when someone goes from saying "The Bible says gays are an abomination and worthy of death" to something like "I'm going to go out and shoot every faggot I see."

Because of freedom of religion (something that is highly prized in the U.S. because many of our forefathers came to the U.S. to escape religious prosecution) we can hold whatever beliefs/faith we wish. But to act on it - like going out and killing members of any group because we believe it's God's will - is illegal.

Link to full transcript of the sermon (in Swedish) http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/nyheter/story/0,2789,726777,00.html

He is a nutter for sure but has he made derogatory remarks that amounts to breaking the law? It will be a tough case for the supreme court. The supporters claim religious freedom and free speech is threatened while opponents claim he is using religious freedom to escape hate crime legislation that would be applicable in the rest of the society. The pator claims he is not interested in doing community service if convicted (bit of a martyr syndrom) and the prosecutor in this respect shares his view and demands a prison sentence if convicted.

How about the following tidbits from the sermon:

"Sexual abnormities (homosexuality) is a deep cancerous growth on the entire society body. The lord knows that sexually twisted people will rape the animals."

"Ok, so not all homosexuals have aids, but the disease has its origin in this (homosexuality) way back..."

"Is it possible to be a christian homosexual man or a woman? No it is not..."