A church leader was apparently warned by a police officer that a Bible verse displayed on the back of his campervan may very well be considered “hate speech” in certain contexts.
Mick Fleming, 59, said he was approached by a police officer while he was at a petroleum station on 27 October.
In a video update, Fleming said the officer advised him that the Scripture “may very well be seen as hate speech within the fallacious context”. If someone complained, police would investigate it and he could “find yourself in trouble”.
The message on his van was the Bible verse John 3:16, which reads: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everybody who believes in him may not perish but can have everlasting life.”
Describing the encounter, Fleming said the officer “was a extremely nice guy, wasn’t nasty or anything, and he said ‘a bit of recommendation – the writing may very well be seen as hate speech within the fallacious context”.
He went on, “I’m just providing you with a heads up’. He wasn’t there to arrest me: it was just advisory.”
Fleming is a church pastor whose work to alleviate poverty has been widely covered within the media. He admitted he was surprised by the word of warning.
In his video posted to YouTube, he said, “I just thought ‘wow’ – I just wondered what people thought … where have we moved to as a rustic where a little bit of Christian scripture on the back of a van could be seen as hateful or spiteful?
“Maybe society is moving to a spot where they don’t want faith-based people sat around a table in discussion with them.”
He later said that he has no plans to remove the verse as he sees it as “an integral message of how real change is feasible”.
Many commenters on his video expressed their support, describing the verse as “a message of affection.”
Lancashire Police said it had no record of the encounter.
“We wouldn’t consider this to be hate speech and would ask the person in query to talk to us directly in order that we could look into the matter,” a spokesperson said.
Displaying religious texts publicly is usually lawful within the UK under freedom of expression. However, speech that is taken into account threatening or intended to fire up hatred against people based on protected characteristics comparable to religion or sexual orientation could be subject to criminal investigation under the Public Order Act 1986 and related laws.
Fleming, a former drug dealer who says his Christian faith led him to charity work, has been featured on BBC’s Songs of Praise and has received recognition from the Prince of Wales for his outreach work.
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