Clive Johnson lived for 78 years without a criminal record. He is a retired pastor, a grandfather of seven, and according to the judge who recently sentenced him, “a man of good character.”

Clive is now known worldwide (far beyond the boundaries of his native Northern Ireland) as an unrepentant law breaker.

And what heinous act did he premeditate and then unashamedly commit?

Arrest and Conviction

On a sunny day in July 2024, Clive Johnson stood within 100 meters of the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, reading a scripture from the New Testament, the 16th verse of the 3rd chapter of the Gospel of St. John.

A police officer on the scene arrested him immediately and subsequently charged him with violating the recently passed Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act.

In court, the arresting officer admitted under oath that Clive never once mentioned a word about abortion or any services or people related to abortion. The uniformed constable also admitted that it was entirely his own view that the retired person was “preventing or harassing” people who were heading to the hospital to have an abortion. No such person or persons could be found to say that Clive had hindered them in any way.

In a breathtaking departure from the principles of jurisprudence and centuries of common law, the judge found common cause with the arresting officer, portrayed Mr. Johnson as a threat to society, and declared him guilty as charged.

Signs of Growing Hostility

As my post-parliamentary years of work take me around the globe, I find it noteworthy that this case in modest Coleraine has taken on an international life of its own, far beyond the borders of the churchyard in Coleraine which had been offered to Saint Patrick by the local chieftain over 1500 years ago.

In today’s reality of instant global intersection, and the growing embrace of the dubious notion of international law, it is perhaps understandable that a case like this looms large.

Abortion itself is an incendiary topic.

Add to that the increasingly hostile view towards any public expression involving Jewish or Christian scriptures and the toxic volatility becomes understandable.

I can tell you from recent experience that Canada’s latest move to criminalize virtually any scripture passages deemed unacceptable by any local official should be taken as a wake up call in any jurisdiction.

Bill C–9, a law to ostensibly combat hate, is a world leader in the growing war on the public use of religious writings.

The only thing more surprising than the rapid passage of this culturally Marxist legislation is the relative silence (with a few notable exceptions) in local and national pastoral and rabbinical communities.

Pastors and Christian Citizens Have an Antidote at Hand

I was recently invited to a state capital in the United States to discuss Canada’s Bill C-9. The question I was asked to address was whether I felt Canada’s departure from centuries of hard-fought gains in the sphere of the human right to diversity of expression might encourage US legislators to embark on similar adventures in censorship.

My response? First, I did not hesitate to observe that the U.S. is still the world leader in the historic and present advancement of human rights.

Second, I also did not hesitate to say that fear induced silence is always close at hand for politicians who are considering their highest priority—getting reelected.

The antidote? Local citizenry properly instructed by informed pastoral and community leaders sitting down with their local political hopefuls to respectfully determine if said politicians would earn their votes on issues like this.

Some social commentators suggest that since “churchgoing folks” are now in the minority there is little hope of winning on these types of issues. Not so. Every individual vote can still make a difference.

In this Irish case, this particular legislation could have been halted and improved at the committee stage. By one more legislator’s vote. One vote! But a lack of politicians being properly informed by local people of faith emboldened the legislators to allow the legislation to proceed unamended.

To use Senator Elizabeth Warren’s timeworn phrase, now borrowed frequently by Canada‘s Prime Minister Carney, “If you’re not at the table you will surely be on the menu.”

Or, as Mordecai famously challenged Esther in the Jewish biblical book of her name, “For if you remain silent at this time…you and your father’s family will perish” (Esther 4:14a).

Now, if I get arrested for the public use of scripture in this article, I hope there will be a robust prison ministry wherever I am jailed.