Has free speech been lost?

As we enter a new decade, I contend that the 2020s will see arguments about free speech intensifying as different worldviews clash in more open and obvious ways.

While the UK has a long tradition of respecting freedom of expression, that heritage is being undermined. Street preachers are being arrested for preaching Jesus and pro-life students are being censored because of their views on abortion. In the light of this, it is a fair conclusion to draw that old standards for freedom of expression are fraying at the edges.

On paper at least, there are laws in place to specifically protect your right to free speech. Under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, everyone has the right to express our views, and the UK signed up to this treaty in 1998. However, there are conditions attached. The law states that this freedom ‘may be subject to formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society’. Whereas before, evangelical beliefs would not have been part of the exceptions, they are increasingly becoming so.

The recent no-platforming of American evangelist Franklin Graham is just further evidence that orthodox Christian views on sexuality and marriage are not even allowed to be heard in the public square. Rightly we are appalled at this. Especially because we believe God’s ways are good not just for Christians, but for the whole of society. As we sense our freedoms being eroded, perhaps we feel an understandable level of anger.

Yet what if the anger we feel flows from a deep sense of entitlement that owes more to tradition and culture than the Bible? An important point when it comes to free speech is to recognise that, while it is incredibly beneficial and a wholly good thing to have, if it vanishes, the New Testament does not leave us without hope. Jesus told his disciples that when they came before rulers and authorities, the Holy Spirit would give them the words to say. Does that same Holy Spirit not indwell us today? Jesus was speaking at a time well before the Human Rights Act of 1998!

I do think we need to set our expectations according to the Bible, not according to what we’ve grown used to and accustomed to in the UK. It is clear that the last days will feature prosecution, persecution and protests by all manner of enemies of the cross of Jesus. Yet we have resources on our side that Christianity’s opponents can only dream of. For one, the Lord is on our side.

For another, it is sometimes in the places of oppression and persecution that the gospel is currently growing. God wants us to speak the truth boldly (Eph. 6:20), but nowhere are we promised that we will always enjoy freedom to do so.

This is not to say, however, that we should not seek justice for those unfairly silenced. Our God desires justice and calls us to speak for those without a voice. We can be grateful for the laws in place that protect our freedoms to express our views and beliefs, and we can make the arguments for protecting those freedoms. But I do worry that there are some who create dangerously inaccurate narratives, whipping up hysteria about loss of gospel freedoms without properly presenting the bigger picture. The good news is that there are protections in place and if we are to avoid deceptive sensationalism, we need this balance.

CARE is committed to religious freedom and belief and we are doing what we can to ensure the current hierarchy of rights – where the rights of other minorities are viewed as more important than those of Christians – is robustly challenged. It is also true that the overall picture is not as gloomy as some suggest. The pro-life student mentioned above received an apology. Wrongly arrested street preachers have been acquitted in court and awarded damages. We still have great freedoms in comparison to some.

In this new decade, freedom of expression will be a massive battleground, no doubt with pressure growing on Christians. But we are not without hope and we are not without help.