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Two Christian pastors convicted under a "hate crimes" plan for "vilifying" Islam by quoting from the Quran during a seminar on jihad again are free to debate religious beliefs following a settlement of their long-running case, according to a report from Voice of the Martyrs.The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal of Australia, the Islamic Council of Victoria and Catch the Fire Ministries have reached an agreement that citizens have the right to "robustly debate religion" and "criticize religious beliefs" within the limits of the law, the VOM report said.Terms were not revealed,but VOM reported that the pastors have spent more than $500,000 over the years defending their right to present their views and insights about Islam.The Islamic Council of Victoria had filed a complaint that resulted in convictions for Danny Nalliah and Daniel Scot-the first convictions in Australia under the nation's religious vilification ban,the Victorian Religious and Racial Tolerance Act which took effect in 2002.The complaint said Scot and Nalliah had "vilified Muslims" at a seminar on jihad on March 9, 2002.The pastors were lecturing on the differences between Christianity and Islam, and quoted information about Islam directly from the Quran.The Australian law was imposed in order to prevent the denigration of people based on their race or religion, and similar laws also have been approved in Canada, where critics of the law say they include sexual orientation and forbid pastors from condemning homosexuality as a sin.In the United States, a proposal pending in Congress would enhance penalties for crimes motivated by "hate," a plan some Christians fear would be used to crack down on their ability to express their biblical perspective that homosexuality is immoral.To read more go to:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56786
As in the days of Noah...
