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by pcrh 1023 days ago
She would have been guilty of harassment even if she were not praying.

Edit, these pictures show that "silently praying" is not an unobtrusive as it sounds:

https://i2-prod.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/article2379330...

https://i2-prod.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/article2379331...

1 comments

Is silent prayer illegal outside some abortion clinics in the UK?

Has the UK banned some prayer and arrested at least one person for thought crime?

The answer to both of those questions is yes.

It’s not about whether she would have been convicted for something else anyway.

Any form of harassment is illegal. See the pics I posted in an edit above; the protestors make their opinions clear to visitors to the clinic, even while being silent.
Do you agree that the UK has banned some silent prayer?

Do you think it is right that silent prayer was banned in this case?

This whole discussion started because people from other countries didn’t believe that the UK would ban silent prayer.

Pretty sure I could walk through that area while praying and not get arrested. I'd do it by making no outward signs that I was praying. Therefore, prayer is not banned.

Also pretty sure I could get arrested in that area by kneeling on the pavement and meditating, rather than praying. I don't think "but I was meditating" would cut it as a defence, either, because what's banned is "anything that looks like protest, here are some examples".

I think it's the kneeling she got arrested for, which happens to be coded as "prayer" in our culture. In other words, she was arrested for protesting.

> Do you agree that the UK has banned some silent prayer?

This is true in the same sense that the UK has also banned breathing, because murdering people is illegal and some people happen to be breathing whilst doing their murdering.