"British Reprobates:" Stand Firm | You WILL Comply With the New Sexual Orthodoxy (UPDATED)

Stand Firm | You WILL Comply With the New Sexual Orthodoxy (UPDATED)

You WILL Comply With the New Sexual Orthodoxy (UPDATED)

If gay activists in America had their way, this country would in short order look like formerly-Great Britain. In particular, the U.S. would be saddled with laws preventing anyone from saying in public that homosexuality is not the most wonderful, glorious, fabulous thing in all creation. One American, a street preacher from Los Angeles named Tony Miano, ran afoul of those British prohibitions this week at Wimbledon. The Christian Post reports:

Tony Miano, a retired deputy sheriff from Los Angeles County, Calif., was arrested in London, England, earlier this week for preaching on abstaining from sexual immorality, both heterosexual and homosexual, in downtown Wimbledon. He was found to be in violation of Public Order Act Section 5, for “using homophobic speech that could cause people anxiety, distress, alarm or insult,” Miano said in a YouTube video posted on Wednesday. 

Preaching from 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, Miano spoke about sexual sins for 25 minutes before being cut off by Metropolitan Police officers who said that although preaching in itself is not an offense, the specific part of the Bible he was preaching from was interpreted as homophobic by the woman who called to complain. Subsequently, Miano was arrested and escorted uncuffed to the police station, where he was booked, photographed and fingerprinted. Police also took a DNA sample to ensure that he was not a wanted criminal.

During the seven hours he spent in jail, Miano said he was interrogated about his faith in Jesus Christ, and was asked a series of questions.

Miano later published a transcript of his interrogation on his web site. It was conducted, to all indications, politely, and he was given every opportunity to explain his position. There is still something genuinely chilling about some of the questions he was asked, questions that should never be asked in a Western democracy, and that portend nothing but the end of freedom in Britain and anywhere else this plague takes hold:

Tony Miano in Italics
Police Interviewer in Regular Script
Michael Phillips, solicitor for Mr. Miano italicized and capped by “LR:”

 

As I said to you earlier on, you were arrested by PC Green at 16:50 for a Section 5 Public Order Act with a homophobic aggravating factor. Okay? Do you want to tell me what you were doing outside Centre Court Shopping Center today at that time?
I was preaching the Gospel. ...
Okay, and you’ve been preaching the Gospel. Is there any specific part of the Gospel you were preaching?
All of it.
Okay, and you’re starting from the beginning and working your way through?
Yes, I will preach through different passages of Scripture. And part of proclaiming the Gospel is sharing the law of God, bringing people to a knowledge of their sin so that they will understand their need for a savior.
Okay. With regards to the group of people. Is it, would you, break it up into sections and do a bit each or would you do do the whole book and someone else would do the whole Gospel? Or does it how does it work?
Each person preaches basically until they’re done. They preach the Gospel message as they feel so lead to do. And then someone else would start from the beginning and preach their own message. ...
Okay. So if we talk about sort of the incident surrounding your arrest. Okay, do you remember specifically what happened when you were arrested? All of the events leading up to your arrest? Anything stand out as the reason why you think you were arrested? Not necessarily that you agree with why you were arrested I just want.
LR: [unclear] if you could just give the lead up to what happened?
Sure, I was preaching from a passage of Scripture in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4.
You have to let me write that down.
Sure.
1 Thessalonian…
Chapter 4.
Thank you.
I believe the passage was verse 1 through I think verse 11 or 12.
Verse 1 through to 11/12.
In that passage of Scripture, the apostle Paul encourages the Thessalonians to abstain from all forms of sexual immorality. And to live a holy life, that is consistent with a life devoted to God and the holiness of God.
Okay, so you were preaching this chapter, or these verses from this chapter?
Right.
Okay, and then what happened?
And I was preaching about various forms of sexual immorality. Both homosexual and heterosexual, including fornication, which is sex prior to marriage.
Okay.
And including adultery, not only the cheating on a spouse but also looking at someone with lust. For Jesus said whoever looks at a person to lust after them, that person has already committed adultery with that person in their heart. And that all forms of sexual immorality is sin in the eyes of God. Sin that God will judge, but sin that also God will forgive. Now, prior to being able to get to the good news of the Gospel, I was stopped. So I was still working my way through the law of God and the consequences of sin, before I, I was stopped before I could get to the good news of how someone could receive forgiveness for that sin and the free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. ...
[P]rior to your arrest, do you remember anyone who may have made any comments to you taking exceptions as to your comment?
Yes.
Okay, talk me through what happened in that instance.
Well, first there was an older gentleman who told me F off. I won’t say exactly what he said. But told me to F off as he was getting on the bus behind me. And then a woman, presumably, the woman who apparently called the police, she likewise told me to F off as she was walking into the mall and I don’t recall exactly what I said to her. But at one point I asked, I would love to dialogue with you about this.
Okay.
And that’s when she walked into the mall and she came back down a short time later. It looked like she was filming with her phone [unclear]. And shortly after the police arrived. ...
She says that she walked back down to the entrance to centre court, which is the shopping centre, not center court tennis, and she noticed that what she described as a male who had originally been speaking about God on the microphone was now filming another male in a red t-shirt. Does that sound about right to you?
Well, my friend who [unclear], he was filming the preaching.
I mean your t-shirt is burgundy.
Yeah, it’s not a t-shirt but that was me.
She says again thinking nothing of it, she walked by. She got about five metres from the man in the red t-shirt and she heard him say, “homosexuality is a sin, we all know it’s wrong.” Did you say that?
Words to that effect, yes.
Okay, she says she was extremely offended by this, which caused her a lot of distress. She said the microphone the man was speaking into was attached to a loudspeaker and could be heard by a large captive audience. She said she mouthed, “f… you.”
I’m glad she admitted to that.
Yes, and she says, for the benefit of this we are going to say you are, was there anyone else wearing a red t-shirt?
No it was me.
Okay, so she says that you said this, and you said, “tell me to f**k off, will you come and have a discourse with me?”
I said words to that effect, that I would like to have a dialogue with you.
Okay.
I wouldn’t have used the word discourse.
Okay. She says that she was with another person who was around [unclear], she saw that she was angry and took her by the arm and led her away. They apparently went to have a discussion about it. And she said due to the man making homophobic statements, saying homophobic statements in the public place, that she felt an offense had been committed and she called the police. While she was waiting for them to arrive, she said you said, “God wants the world to be ordered as one man and one woman, heterosexuality. Homosexuality, lesbianism, and fornication is wrong. God knows that, you know that. Will any man here man up and agree with me or that girl earlier?”
That’s not what I said.
That’s not what you said.
No, particularly at the end.
Okay.
I did use the phrase, “man up.”
So you said, “man up.”
Right, but that is in reference to a man who had walked by and cursed at me. And I asked, in general, when will the men of this community, man up and stand by their convictions? Basically come and talk to me instead of just coming by and cursing me. I didn’t say when will people man up and agree with me. I didn’t say that.
So you just wanted to…
I wanted, men to instead of whispering as they’re walking by, to stop and to have a dialogue and to stand by their convictions and actually talk about it.
Okay. So basically as you said earlier, to spread God’s word in a sense. You wanted essentially to teach, well I can’t remember the exact words earlier on, but you know, preach the Gospel.
Yes.
So, she also says that these, I can’t even pronounce it, vitriolic statements, again caused me alarm and distress. And she says, while this was happening, a man with a gray [unclear] started to film her reactions to the words. She said that she felt intimidated by that. And that’s basically, she just goes on to describe you. ...
What was your sole intention by doing this today?
My sole intention, my faith, my Christian faith teaches me to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. There is nothing more loving that I will ever do for another human being than to warn them of God’s wrath to come against sin and point them to the only one who could forgive their sin, and that’s Jesus Christ.
Okay.
So my intent was to love people with the Gospel.
Okay, and you believe through, your, your religion, that homosexuality is a sin?
Yes, I do.
How do you feel… Members of the public may feel?
[unclear interruption] LR: Can we just, I think it’s important just to say, to distinguish between homosexuality as an individual, and the sin itself. Would you be able to just distinguish between that. Is a homosexual person evil, they have…
No, a person who tells a lie, a person who steals, a person who harbors bitterness or resentment or hatred in their heart, a person who is discontent with what God has given them in their life and covets what other people have, a person who takes God’s name in vain, who is selfish, a person, if a person sins against God they face the same righteous judgement from God as any person committing any other sin.
Okay.
LR: So what, just to recall the distinction between the act itself and person who has the inclination to do the act. So they’re not the same. You’re not saying that person is an evil person just because they have an inclination to be homosexual. For that reason alone.
I’m not sure I understand the question. The point is that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That’s why when I was speaking out there today, I wasn’t speaking exclusively about homosexuality. I was speaking about fornication of any kind. Heterosexual fornication, heterosexual adultery, looking at a person with lust, whether or not you’re married, any form of sexual immorality is a sin before God.
Okay. Let me give you an example just for my benefit. You’ll have to excuse my ignorance regarding religion. You know… If two males walked past you holding hands, and in your view apparently homosexuals, would you consider them a sinner?
Yes.
Okay, that is what I wanted to know. So in that sense of the word, in that respect, do you feel what you were doing today, preaching the gospel, making the comments about homosexuality being a sin, do you think that that could have upset people?
I think it could upset people because people love their sin. I think if someone walked by when I was talking about lying, and they had just lied, someone would be upset with that. I think if I was talking about hating another person and someone was harboring hatred in their heart towards someone else, they could be upset with that. That’s because people do not like to hear that they have sinned against a holy God.
Okay, the issue as well is that not everyone is religious, so not everyone would see homosexuality as a sin, would they?
I don’t think that’s relevant. Because God sees it as a sin.
No? Okay. [unclear]
We don’t determine… excuse me?
So you [unclear] are you offended by it because you are religious?
Am I offended by what?
By homosexuality.
Homoesexuals don’t do anything to me.
No.
They offend God. Just as…
Okay. It doesn’t offend you.
Just as my sin offends God.
It doesn’t offend you?
No. I harbor no bitterness or resentment…
Okay.
Toward homosexuals or…
That’s basically what I was getting at. You don’t have any, you don’t have any…
I don’t have any anger towards them.
And you never discriminate against them?
No.
So if someone you knew as a homosexual came up to you and asked you for a favor, you’d quite happily offer them that favor would you?
The word of God tells me to love your neighbor as myself.
Okay.
So if a homosexual walked up to me and said, I’m hungry and I need something to eat. I would walk them to the nearest restaurant, give them something to eat, and share the Gospel with them because I love them.
Okay, so. Tell me what you were doing today then. It’s apparent from this statement we have, that you have upset someone. Okay. She’s saying that what you said she found distressing, okay? Someone else has told you to “F off” as you put it. A gentleman, so whatever you were saying at that time people obviously found distressing I don’t know. ...
The issue obviously as well, is, well, you know, I appreciate what you’re saying regarding your beliefs and the fact that you were preaching the Gospel. As I said to you earlier, not everyone is religious. Okay, so they don’t have an understanding as you, as you obviously as you do of the Gospel.
Right.
I certainly don’t. So, do you accept that what you were saying, is likely to upset some people.
No, I don’t accept that. Because I’ve also seen people with tears in their eyes come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, realizing that they’ve sinned against God. Regardless, my understanding is that what the word of God says about the nature of man is that regardless of what a person expresses with their mouth, or with their demeanor, or with their body language, even if they would say that they were offended or insulted does not necessarily mean that’s the case. It could very well be that they’ve been convicted but their heart and they don’t want the preacher to see that.
Okay.
And that’s always my hope.
Okay.
My hope is that that lady will go home tonight and she will turn from her sin and put her trust in Jesus Christ the Lord for her salvation. That one day I will get to worship with her side by side in heaven.
Okay. And, last question I’ve got for you, is do you think what you did was acceptable in a public place…
Absolutely.
With, I don’t know how many people walking past you during the day bearing in mind the tennis championships are on, do you feel that what you did, making the comments you made, is 100% acceptable in a public place?
Not only 100% acceptable, but commanded by God.
Okay.
I’m commanded by God to love people and to proclaim the Gospel to as many people as I can for as long as I can.
Will you do this again tomorrow?
If I have the opportunity, yes.

So this is where Britain is today. Dissent from the New Sexual Orthodoxy™ is forbidden. Making someone feel uncomfortable by expressing an opinion with which they disagree is outlawed. Agreeing in public with the official faith of the state church is not permitted.

This is where we are headed, First Amendment or no, if the apostles of the New Sexual Orthodoxy™ get their way in the United States. Don’t believe me? Check out some of these comments on the Christian Post article:

“melanie”: I’m sure they were very civilized with you. Quit acting like you're such a martyr.
“Anita Manne”: This isn’t Miano’s first time in the newspapers. He routinely harasses LGBT people. Let’s hope he gets a long prison sentence.
“CalebELCA”: We need laws like this in the USA. Europe is, as usual, right about the protection of the public from hate-speech. I don’t care what a person writes, thinks, or says in private or among private company in public, but DON’T try and force the rest of us to hear it. Everyone has free speech not just conservatives.
“judderwocky”: waah waah waah I’m a christian and I think my religion lets me do whatever I want.

Eternal vigilance, folks.

UPDATE: Coming soon to a major city near you:

In three separate incidents beginning May 2011, David Allen, a Christian street preacher in Houston, Texas, was arrested, searched, jailed, and repeatedly denied his constitutional rights to free speech and free exercise of religion. He was never convicted on any of the charges.  To stop further harassment, the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan announced it filed a federal lawsuit late last week on behalf of Allen.

Read it all.
(Hat tip: Words Matter.)