Christian Chaplain Reported To Anti-Terrorism Program For LGBT Sermon

Last week PNW reported to you on the story of Päivi Räsänen in Finland, where she serves as a Member of Parliament and was formerly Minister of the Interior.

She is facing 6 years in jail for 'hate speech' crimes which include sharing her opinion on marriage and human sexuality on social media from a Biblical perspective.

Now in the UK we have The Reverend Dr Bernard Randall being reported to the British government's anti-terrorism program for delivering a sermon in which he told pupils that it is acceptable to question and disagree with far-left LGBT ideology being taught at the school.

Dr. Randall served as the chaplain at Trent College which although claiming support of 'the Protestant and Evangelical principles of the Church of England'- invited the far left education group Educate and Celebrate to help "embed gender, gender identity and sexual orientation into the fabric of the school"

Dr Elly Barnes, a former music teacher with ties to the Socialist Party of Britain, founded and continues to run the Educate and Celebrate charity which boasts her organization is training school teachers to "completely smash heteronormativity" by making LGBT ideology an "everyday occurrence within the school."

The charity boasts that it has worked with thousands of schools across the country in developing lesson plans, running workshops, and conducting training for teachers. The charity advocates for far-left positions on gender theory, such as banning the use of the words "boys" and "girls" in the classroom, and using so-called gender-neutral terms such as "they" and "zie".

Educate and Celebrate ran into controversy in 2017 when it published a book that promoted the idea of using puberty blockers on children as young as 12-years-old. The charity is also alleged to have told teachers that it is acceptable to help children transition without the knowledge of their parents.

But not all the students were happy with this group in their school, with several asking Randall if, in one of his sermons, he would address the question, "How come we are told we have to accept all this LGBT stuff in a Christian school?"

In response Randall wrote a sermon entitled 'Competing Ideologies' and in it Dr Randall stressed the Christian ethics of understanding, grace, and kindness, but added that pupils should not feel as though they must accept teachings if they believe they run contrary to their faith.

"Now when ideologies compete, we should not descend into abuse, we should respect the beliefs of others, even where we disagree. Above all, we need to treat each other with respect, not personal attacks - that's what loving your neighbor as yourself means," Dr Randall said.

"You should no more be told you have to accept LGBT ideology than you should be told you must be in favor of Brexit or must be Muslim - to both of which I'm sure most of you would quite rightly object," he added.

Randall says he had a moral obligation to respond. 'They were importing this identity politics kind of way of approaching things which comes from Marxist and postmodern roots which is fundamentally atheist.

'They were bringing in this atheist worldview into a Christian school and my job as I saw it was to speak up a little bit about some of the difficulties that might raise.'

Despite giving a message of grace and respect for those with differences, his message was still considered "harmful to LGBT students" and he was reported to Prevent, the British government's anti-terrorism unit which seeks to halt the radicalization of young people.

Dr Randall claims he was pulled into a meeting and told the sermon had hurt some people's feelings and undermined the LGBT agenda.

He was also reported to the local authority designated officer, apparently because the school felt he might be a risk to children. 

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Randall said: "I was terrified when I found out. I had visions of being investigated by MI5, of men coming to my house at dawn and knocking down the front door. What was I supposed to tell my family? It was crazy."

"I had gone to such lengths in the sermon to stress we must respect one another no matter what, even people we disagree with," he pointed out.

In addition to reporting the chaplain to Prevent, the school also informed him that his future sermons would need to comply with 20 conditions including being reviewed and edited/censored accordingly prior to their delivery according to Randall.

The charity Christian Concern reported that he was told to refrain from discussing "any topic or expressing any opinion (in Chapel or more generally around School) that is likely to cause offence or distress to members of the school body."

"You will not publicly express personal beliefs in ways which exploit our pupils' vulnerability," the school also allegedly told the chaplain.

Ultimately, he was dismissed from the school, prompting Randall to sue for harassment, victimization, discrimination, and unfair dismissal. His case will be heard by the East Midlands Employment Tribunal on June 14th 2021.

"My career and life are in tatters," he said.  'My story sends a message to other Christians that you are not free to talk about your faith. It seems it is no longer enough to just "tolerate" LGBT ideology.

'You must accept it without question and no debate is allowed without serious consequences'.

Andrea Williams, the chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which is helping Dr Randall in his legal efforts, said: "Who are the extremists in this story? 

The partisan agency who teach young children that they can be born in the wrong body, or the school chaplain moderately presenting what the Christian church has taught about marriage, sex and gender for the past 2,000 years?"