DBKP has been following a chilling story out of London, about political correctness run amok: a 15-yr-old youth who was charged with a crime for calling Scientology a cult has had his charges dropped.
The youth, who was peacefully protesting the Church of Scientology had the police confiscate his sign and was issued a summons for allegedly violating the Public Order Act. The police said that the verbiage on his sign incited "religious hatred". What was written on the youth's sign that the police deemed "insulting" and "abusive" towards the Church of Scientology?
"Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult."
The youth, who because he's 15, has remained anonymous in the media, had his charges dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service who ruled that the word cult was not "abusive or insulting".
"Our advice is that it is not abusive or insulting and there is no offensiveness, as opposed to criticism, neither in the idea expressed nor in the mode of expression. No action will be taken against the individual." Crown Prosecution Services
There were two actions here that call attention to the London police and Scientology:
1. The London Police issued a summons to the youth and confiscated his sign after they concluded his use of the word, cult, was insulting and abusive, inciting religion hatred.
2. The London police labeled Scientology a religion.
The flawed thinking in the police filing a criminal summons against this peaceful protester are substantial. The British government has never officially recognized Scientology as a religion, in fact, back in 1999 the group was denied a charitable status by the government and yet the police used this as the foundation of the criminal charge filed against the youth.
Offending Scientology's Feelings
The police have been investigated for having ties to Scientology. For more info, see our prior story, Scientology: Never Recognized as a Religion Cops Bust Kid For Calling it a Cult.
The police issuing summons in this matter smacks of old fashioned favoritism. We can literally hear the ass kissing from across the pond. It was up the Crown Prosecution Services to pull the copper's credibility from the fire after the world sat up and took notice: The London Police were now in the business of protecting a multi-million dollar organization from little people out on the street who peacefully protested that the "Church" is a cult. In short: The Bobbies were protecting the organization from behavior deemed "offensive" to the Scientologists. Being called a cult is more than Scientologists care to bare, and we wonder why.
The Thought Police
An even larger issue, one that affects each and every one of us is the fact that the London Police slapped a criminal summons on someone who had used the word 'cult' in a peaceful protest. This is chilling, one of the most basic rights we have is to have an opinion and to be able to voice it. The London Police, while defending the feelings of the Church of Scientology, had become the "Thought Police", effectively silencing anyone with the threat of criminal courts.
Bullying Bobbies
Another issue is that of the Church of Scientology. Why didn't the Church issue a statement that they found the arrest of this kid appalling, that the charges were ludicrous, that the Church wouldn't stand for this type of bullying behavior by the Bobbies on their behalf?
Who's More Insulting and Abusive?
Is it the 15-yr-old kid peacefully protesting whose sign called Scientology "dangerous" and a "cult"? Or is it the police who issued a criminal summons, defending a Church that the British government refuses to label a religion? Or is it Scientology, a multi-million dollar organization with members across the world who apparently need the local coppers to protect their image and their feelings?
While it's good news that the prosecution side refused to charge the kid, we're still miffed it happened. But then we realized, this was a wake-up call to everyone who believes we have the right to hold and voice an opinion without fear of prosecution.
Political correctness has been eroding our rights since its inception. It's insidious the way our rights have been systematically stripped away mostly because we've remained silent. If we continue to remain silent all our precious freedoms, especially those to form an opinion and to voice it, will be forbidden, criminalized, by those who wish to protect the image and "feelings" of such organizations such as Scientology.
Scientology has no business using the local cops as a security force, turning ordinary citizens who feel it's a cult and want to protest against it, into criminals while the police should stick to their day jobs, that of protecting and serving its citizens not the feelings of multi-million dollar organizations.
By LBG
Image - Scientology Protest Sign
Source - Guardian - Schoolboy Avoids Prosecution for branding Scientology a cult
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