Police tell British cafe owner not to show Bible DVD

BLACKPOOL, England — Religious liberty took another hit in Great Britain when a Christian restaurant owner was threatened with arrest for playing a Bible DVD that included passages critical of homosexuality. The incident, reported in the Daily Mail newspaper, is but the latest example of what U.K. conservatives say is an abuse of the country’s Public Order Act, which prohibits the use of “insulting” words that can cause “harassment, alarm or distress.”

The restaurant, called the Salt and Light Coffee House, for years has played a DVD version of the New Testament on an overhead TV, with the sound turned down and the words of the Bible appearing on screen. Called “The WatchWORD Bible,” the entire DVD series spans about 26 hours. Police entered the restaurant Sept. 19 after getting a complaint. Restaurant owner Jamie Murray said he suspects the complaint came after the passage from Romans 1:26–27 was displayed on screen. The restaurant is located in Blackpool.

The two police officers conducted an “aggressive inquisition,” Murray said. “I told them that all that appeared on the screen were the words of the New Testament,” Murray told the newspaper. “There is no sound, just the words on the screen and simple images in the background of sheep grazing or candles burning. I thought there might be some mix-up, but they said they were here to explain the law to me and how I had broken it.

“I said, ‘Are you really telling me that I am facing arrest for playing the Bible?’ and the [officer] fixed me with a stare and said, ‘If you broadcast material that causes offense under the Public Order Act, then we will have to take matters further. You cannot break the law.’” Murray says he is not going to back down. The Christian Institute, a British-based organization that fights for religious liberty, is representing him. “I have now checked on my rights and I am not going to be bullied by the police and the [politically correct] lobby out of playing the Bible silently in my cafe,” he said.

A police spokesman told the Daily Mail that the force is “respectful of all religious views.”