[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Duj9cKIkHg&w=525&h=300]

A Nigerian-born Christian street preacher arrested in London for “breaching the peace” — that is, preaching. Watch till the end, for this quote:

Preacher: “Don’t take my Bible!”

Cop: “You should have thought about that before being racist.”

I have not been able to find information about what he said that preceded the intervention by police. I’ll update this post when I do.

UPDATE: It is true that this Nigerian might have been shouting racist things, as the police officer alleges to justify taking the man’s Bible away. But I am skeptical. We shall see. A reader writes:

The video you posted of the Nigerian preacher being mistreated by British police was painful to watch. I can’t even articulate properly what it was like to see a man preaching Jesus Christ to be treated so contemptuously by the police serving the Queen. Do these men not swear loyalty to the Queen? Is this what she calls being the Defender of the Faith? I might be getting off topic, but Elizabeth II should end the farce of the Monarchy if she is going to allow this, or at least strike ‘Defender of the Faith’ from her royal titles. This was abominable and anti-christ and done in the Queen’s name!

You know I am no fan of the woke grievance study scene, but damn, even the most staunch conservative has to see there is a queer judgment on the great former colonial power. Britain was once great–once one could say ‘Rule, Britannia! Britannia rules the waves!’ and ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire’–and now it is a silly little country that hates itself, has turned its back on God, can’t reproduce, and is headed for late modern obscurity. The Empire did things that were bad, but perhaps redeeming the bad to a certain degree, the Empire deserves some credit for making it easier for missionaries to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the ends of the earth.

I believe that in the 18th and 19th centuries, despite the grave shortcomings of the empire, England really did have something of value to offer its colonies: the Gospel. Thank God, and I mean thank Him, that the Gospel took root in Nigeria. So much so that now as Britain has turned its back on the Christian faith, Nigerian Christians are showing love to their former colonial overlord by bringing the Gospel back. What English missionaries once brought as a gift to the colonies, the former colonies are now returning to them. This is truly a movement of Christian charity if we take seriously the wrongs that colonies suffered at the hands of their European overlords. And to see secular Britain return this charity with such spite!

I could go on about the significance of this reversal of roles, but perhaps it really shows something about the Gospel and how those who suffer oppression find it easier to accept the Gospel (for example, African colonies) while those who are rich and comfortable (for example, capitalist countries that exploited colonies) easily forget the Gospel (without getting into the excesses of Liberation Theology which clearly goes off the rails).

Nigeria is Christianity’s future. Wonderful, wonderful things are happening there. Despite the incredible persecution of Christians by Muslims (which the American media refuses to cover and so is inching towards complicity) the church is growing. Nigeria will be sending missionaries to all of us by the end of the century and be the center of Christianity–thank God for their faithfulness!

What do you British Christian readers think — not just about the street preacher, but about what this reader (an American) has to say?

UPDATE: A reader points to this 2017 article from the UK’s Catholic Herald for a possible answer. Excerpt:

The British government has refused to say whether telling people about the Christian faith could be a hate crime.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, a UKIP peer, says when he raised a question on the issue on the House of Lords, the government failed to state clearly whether Christians cannot be prosecuted just for stating their beliefs.

“I said to the government ‘Will they confirm unequivocally that a Christian who says that Jesus is the only son of the one true God cannot be arrested for hate crime or any other offence, however much it may offend a Muslim or anyone of any other religion?’”

In response to the question, government whip Baroness Vere of Norbiton said: “My Lords, I am not going to comment on that last question from the noble Lord.” She added that the legal definition of “hate crime” has been the same for the past 10 years.

Speaking to Premier Christian Radio, Lord Pearson said the refusal to comment was “pretty unique” and “makes one very worried”.

He said the current definition of “hate crime”, which relies on whether the victim feels offended, was “stupid” and called for the law to be clarified.

“Certainly the stricter Muslims do feel offended by Christianity and our belief in Jesus being the only Son of the one true God,” he added.

He also said there is a double standard in how hate crime laws are applied to Christianity and Islam.

“You can say what you like about the Virgin Birth, the miracles and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but as soon as you say ‘come on, is Islam really the religion of peace that it claims to be’, all hell breaks loose.”…