Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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1. 

   You get drivel about aliens, abduction etc from all sorts of people, not just Christians – there are atheists, agnostics…

2. 

   […] last time I had had occasion to write about Rowan County clerk Kim Davis, above, was three years ago…

3. 

   Whatever is presented on the BBC, and I must admit I do not watch the TV, the fact is that…

4. 

   “The curriculum had already drawn tensions among the county’s religious parents, with some worrying about appropriateness and arguing the material…

5. 

   As someone who produced dozens of nativity plays as a teacher and a Sunday School leader, that title ‘A Gay…

OVER the years I have had many a run-in with Christian street preachers, but only once was I admonished by a police officer for giving the finger to a loon brandishing a silly sign that said “anal penetration leads to eternal damnation!”

This occurred at a Pride rally in London, and the officer, trying hard to stifle a grin, said the evangelist wanted me arrested for “threatening behaviour” but that he was letting me off with a warning.

I had completely forgotten about the incident until today, when I read that a fella in in Quebec actually got himself arrested and hauled before a judge for giving the finger— two actually—to a neighbour during an altercation involving foul language … and an electric drill.

Profoundly irritated by what he regarded as a “weaponisation” of the criminal justice system, Judge Dennis Galiatsatos ruled in the case against Neall Epstein, a 45-year-old schoolteacher:

To be abundantly clear, it is not a crime to give someone the finger. Flipping the proverbial bird is a God-given, Charter-enshrined right that belongs to every red-blooded Canadian. It may not be civil, it may not be polite, it may not be gentlemanly. Nevertheless, it does not trigger criminal liability.

Image via Facebook/Radio-Canada Information

Galiatsatos, above, added:

In the specific circumstances of this case, the Court is inclined to actually take the file and throw it out the window, which is the only way to adequately express my bewilderment with the fact that Mr. Epstein was subjected to an arrest and a fulsome criminal prosecution.

The “victim” in case was Michael Naccache, 34, who clearly triggered the dispute by swearing at Epstein, and threatening him while holding a power drill “in a menacing way.” 

Yet it was Epstein who got collared.

He testified that Naccache called him “fucking crazy” and a “dipshit,” and told him: “you’re fucking dead.”

Epstein responded by telling him to “fuck off” and giving him a “double-middle-finger salute”, before walking away from the confrontation.

When Epstein returned home from a walk with his children, he found police officers waiting to arrest him.

Galiatsatos wrote in a 26-page ruling that not only was Epstein not guilty, the fact that he was arrested and prosecuted at all was a bewildering injustice.

The Montreal police service said it is analysing the decision and declined to comment further.

Ok, ok … this report may not have a religious aspect to it, but it does serve to highlight a growing trend, especially among faith-based organisations, to burden courts with frivolous lawsuits.

The UK’s Christian Legal Centre, for example, boasts that it “provides legal support to Christians who are unashamed of Jesus and the truth that flows from him,” and provides a list of current and past cases it is handling.

Image via YouTube

Fortunately this ghastly outfit, headed by Andrea Minichiello Williams, above, loses far more cases than it wins.

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If you spot any typos in this post please alert me via email: freethinkered@aol.com