Moscow, February 7, 2017
Photo: The Telegraph Gordon Larmour has been preaching on the streets of Irvine in Ayrshire, 390 miles northwest of London, for seven years. He was handing out leaflets last July when a group of men passed him by. “Don’t forget Jesus loves you and He died for your sins,” Larmour preached. “What does your God say about homosexuals?” one of the young men asked.
Larmour’s answer got him a night in the local jail.
According to The Telegraph, the incident has riled Christian campaigners who are uneasy about the encroachment of political correctness upon freedom of speech.
In response to the young man’s question, Larmour told him the story of Adam and Eve, stating that God created them to produce children. The answer led to an argument between the 42-year-old preacher and the 19-year-old young man who then chased the preacher down the street.
A few minutes later the police appeared to take Larmour to a police van, accusing him of threatening or abusive behavior “aggravated by prejudice relating to sexual orientation.” However, he was acquitted after another of the young men testified that the preacher had not assaulted anyone nor used any degrading names.
“Preaching from the Bible is not a crime,” Larmour said.
“I can't see why I was arrested in the first place—it was a massive overreaction and a waste of everyone's time. The police didn't listen to me. They took the young homosexual guy's side straight away and read me my rights… I feel they try so hard to appear like they are protecting minorities, they go too far the other way. I want to be able to tell people the good word of the Gospel and think I should be free to do so. I wasn't speaking my opinions—I was quoting from the Bible,” the preacher said.
