He also appears to be extremely prickly when it comes to public criticism of his ideas and activities. He recently tried to intimidate my fellow-blogger Seismic Shock (who keeps a watchful eye on Christian anti-semitism) by sending the police round. And heartened by this experience, he proceeded to leave the following comment on a post by Australian Christian blogger Vee:
Dear Vee,
You must take a little more care who you brand as anti-semitic otherwise you too will be receiving a caution from the police as the young former student of Leeds did recently. One more reference to me and you will be reported.
Blessings
Stephen
Somehow, that disingenuous 'Blessings' makes the threat all the more sinister. Yuk.
I can't vouch for the validity of all the criticisms made of Sizer, but two things seem crystal clear:
1. The police have no business telling bloggers what they can and cannot write.
2. Those who resort to the law to silence their critics usually have something to hide.
The story continues to unfold, but you can catch up by following these links:
http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/anglican-vicar-uses-police-to-intimidate-blogger/
http://modernityblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/ex-national-front-leader-and-rev-stephen-sizer/
http://dolphinarium.blogspot.com/2010/01/thats-not-way-to-do-it.html
http://sedgemore.com/2010/01/not-fit-for-the-cure-of-souls/
Update
Good to see that Index on Censorship has taken the case up with the West Yorkshire Police. More updates over at Seismic Shock.
1 comment:
I'd already read Seismic Shock's post on this, Martin; but thanks for yours. Agree wholeheartedly. And, yes, that 'blessings' is cancelled out by everything that precedes it.
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