Muslim Council Agrees to Drop Hate-Speech Suit against Aussie Pastors After BF Wins Appeal

re: "The Islamic Council of Victoria yesterday ended its five-year legal battle against Pastors Daniel Scot and Danny Nalliah by agreeing to drop its suit seeking to punish the pastors for critically comparing Islam and Christianity in a public sermon in 2002./ Far from incendiary, the pastor’s remarks were thoughtful Christian reflections on Islam and are part of the ongoing dialogue between Christians and Muslims. While the pastors made clear that they disagreed with Islamic theology as being incompatible with Christian belief, they stressed that Christians were still called to love and not hate Muslims. Despite this, in 2004 the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found that the pastors’ preaching violated Victoria’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act because it “vilified Islam,” was “offensive,” and espoused “unreasonable” interpretations of Christian and Islamic teaching. This decision, however, was vacated upon appeal in December 2006 by the Supreme Court of Victoria which noted that the Tribunal had no business “attempt[ing] to assess the theological propriety of what was asserted at the Seminar.” The court ordered that the Islamic Council pay half of the Pastor's legal fees for the appeal..."...

hat tip: The Alliance Alert