Preach a Sermon, Go to Jail

In an article appearing at WorldNetDaily, a pastor in the Pentecostal Church has been found guilty in a Swedish court of "offending homosexuals" in a sermon. (WorldNetDaily cites Ecumenical News International as their source for the report.)

According to the WND report, the pastor, Ake Green, said in a sermon given in 2003, that homosexuality is "abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumor in the body of society." The court found this to be in violation of a statute against incitement; presumably, incitement of hatred of others. If so, this appears to parallel provisions defining hate crimes, as exist in most states today. (One final note from the WND article: a spokesman for the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights is reported to have said that "religious freedom could never be used as a reason to offend people."

Hmmm... I can preach the Gospel, but not if it offends someone? So much for the Gospel as a stumbling stone, and the Cross as an offense...

And yes, campers: It can happen here...

(My thanks to David and Celia for calling this article to my attention.)

Writer's Block to the Max
This blog has been incredibly inconsistent of late. My apologies, if there is anyone who cares to see thoughts posted here more frequently. In part, I've been busy, what with the regular course of events, and a presentation that I made last week at the XIth World Russian Orthodox Youth Conference in San Francisco. But, to be honest, there is so much going on, between world events and developments (and fears) with respect to the on-going conversations about what needs to be done to achieve reconciliation between our Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and the Church of Moscow and All Russia, that I have had my mind go numb -- there's been very little, or nothing, that I've felt moved to comment on. Whether from being brain dead, or a feeling of, "What's the point?", both this blog and our parish newsletter have suffered.

Hopefully, the newsletter will resume in some form this month; and so will this blog...