Over 2000 people came to hear from Christians who have faced legal action because of their faith at meetings in Northern Ireland in mid-February.
The speakers included B&B owner Hazelmary Bull; Christian printer Nick Williamson, who spoke about his experience of facing the threat of legal action from an equality quango for refusing to print a gay magazine; and Daniel McArthur, the General Manager of Ashers Baking Company, which is facing court for refusing to decorate a pro-gay marriage campaign cake last year. He said: ‘We believe that God in his sovereignty is in control and his purposes will prevail.’
Callum Webster from The Christian Institute, said the huge crowds attending the meetings show the overwhelming support for protecting gospel freedoms in the Province. He said: ‘We are hugely encouraged by seeing so many people from all over the Province. We hope that this sends a strong message to those who are threatening to curtail our freedom to live according to our conscience.
Making people say things
‘Most people accept that the bakery was perfectly happy to bake cakes for anyone. The issue is whether people should be compelled to say things that they don’t believe. If Ashers loses this case, what’s to stop a Nationalist baker having to make a King Billy cake or a Unionist printer having to supply leaflets with a ‘Support a united Ireland’ slogan? This is not what the equality laws are meant to do. We cannot sleepwalk into becoming a nation where coerced speech is acceptable.’
