The Unthinkable Crime: A Veteran’s Silent Prayer
The United Kingdom, that country across the pond claiming to be the “Defender of the Faith,” should now be known as the “Defender of the Absurd!”
An Army veteran, a hero named Adam Smith-Connor, was arrested in Bournemouth, England.
What crime did this veteran commit?
Was he assaulting someone? Heisting an old lady’s purse? Stealing candy from a baby?
No. Far worse. This VETERAN was caught silently praying in his head within the buffer zone of an abortion clinic.
And the monstrous prayer that required his immediate incarceration was…wait for it…“praying for his deceased son.”
Let that sink in for a moment. Let it really get under your skin.
Your very BRAIN WAVES can now be a crime in England!
What sort of dystopian world have we stumbled into here?
Smith-Connor told Shannon Bream at Fox News that he wasn’t at the abortion clinic to cause a ruckus or stir up trouble. No, he was there because he was remorseful after paying for his ex-girlfriend’s abortion.
He wanted to pray, silently mind you, for his unborn son and for others contemplating that choice.
But the “Defenders of the Faith” were waiting for him.
The “Buffer Zone”: A Space Free from Faith
The British Pregnancy Advice Service clinic in Bournemouth is surrounded by a “buffer zone” encompassing approximately six streets and is in effect for 12 hours each day.
Not only are brave police officers deployed to watch for dangerous criminals praying in their heads – those vile offenders – but those kneeling, holding rosaries, or sprinkling Holy Water.
Did Smith-Connor actually think he could outfox the long arm of the law with his act of silent contrition? How foolish of him to believe that his private grief could remain a secret in the eyes of the almighty state.
Even without a mind-reading device, the police are surely well-trained to be on the lookout for anyone standing still with eyes closed. Clearly, it is a suspicious act. What else could they be doing besides endangering society with their subversive prayers?
“It is unfathomable that in an apparently free society, I am being criminally charged on the basis of what I expressed silently, in the privacy of my own mind,” Smith-Connor said.
Not only in a free society, Mr. Connor-Smith. But in a society that boasts of being the “Defender of the Faith.”
Defender of the Faith? That’s now laughable!
Empty Words: The Hollow Promises of the Defender of the Faith
They aren’t defending the faith; they’re shredding it, trampling on it, and throwing it in the faces of those who dare to think and believe freely.
It’s nothing but empty words, meaningless virtual-signaling jargon, just like when Outback Steakhouse tells us there are “No Rules” or when Las Vegas brags, “What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas.”
Empty promises, hollow slogans, designed to make us feel good but mean nothing.
Take any of these slogans seriously, and you might end up in jail, like Connor-Smith.
England just made a criminal out of a man in mourning. And that, my friend, should bring the Church into mourning.
The situation isn’t just a legal quirk or an overreach by an overzealous prosecutor.
It’s symptomatic of a broader trend, an erosion of our civilization’s principles.
A Pattern of Persecution: The Erosion of Religious Freedom
We’re witnessing a determined effort to marginalize traditional beliefs, to redefine and exert control over the private, personal connection between man and his Creator.
Something has gone terribly wrong when an act as personal and sacred as silent prayer becomes a matter for the courts.
And it has happened before. A pro-life woman in the UK was arrested earlier this year for silently praying – a second time! – outside an abortion clinic.
It’s happening even in America. A young street preacher in Wisconsin was recently arrested for reading the Bible outside a gay pride drag event that included little children.
His crime? “Unlawful Sound Amplification” for using a microphone.
Where’s the outrage?
Where’s the outcry from those supposed to defend religious freedoms – the Church?
Where is the Church? The Silent Watchers of an Attack on Faith
Is the Church even aware that it is under attack? Let this incident remind us that the battle for our beliefs is just beginning in a world that seems to have gone mad.
The very governments sworn to protect the freedom of faith have turned their backs on those values. They have attacked the liberty to communicate with God whenever and wherever we please.
But where is the Church? Has it turned its back on the faithful as well?
Where does it end?
I’m angry. I’m angry because what happened to Mr. Smith-Connor could happen anywhere if we’re not careful and don’t stand up and call out the phoniness and falseness of these empty promises.
If we allow the state to criminalize a private act of silent prayer, what’s next? Will our very thoughts and beliefs be policed and censored?
This is a slippery slope, one that leads to a dark place where the state has total control over our minds and our souls. That, my friend, is totalitarianism.
We must never allow our obedience to God, whether in prayer or actions, to be silenced or criminalized by the heavy hand of the state.
