Pastor arrested after citing Biblical marriage definition a ‘vile attack’ on freedom of religion

Spiked Online Editor Brendan O’Neill says the recent arrest of a 71-year-old pastor in the UK for alleged hate speech is a “vile assault on freedom of religion”. The pastor in Britain was handcuffed and arrested by police for alleged hate speech after talking about the Biblical definition of marriage - that marriage is between a man and a woman. “It’s a grotesque situation,” Mr O’Neill told Sky News host Andrew Bolt. “He was just reading from the Bible; he was citing the Bible’s definition … some people reported him for hate speech and then he was arrested in a pretty violent way. “This is a vile assault on freedom of religion and a vile assault on freedom of speech.”