Seth Udinski, FISM News
American evangelist Franklin Graham has won a lawsuit against the British city of Blackpool over the issue of religious liberty. In 2018, the son of the legendary American pastor Billy Graham paid for advertising for his “Festival of Hope” conference in Lancashire on several public buses throughout Blackpool. The city immediately pushed for the advertisements to be removed, claiming that Graham’s outspoken criticism of the LGBT movement was “venomous.” Less than a day after the advertisements appeared on city buses, they were removed.
This past week, a court in England ruled in favor of Graham, claiming the city of Blackpool violated his right to religious protection. The court ruled that Blackpool displayed “a wholesale disregard for the right to freedom of expression.” In a society where cancel culture seems to exercise total autonomy in every sphere, it is encouraging to see the legal system of Britain actively protecting the religious rights of evangelical Christians. The specifics of what the city now owes the ministry of Franklin Graham will be revealed in the coming weeks.
As an added bonus, the temporary removal of Graham’s advertisement for the 2018 Festival of Hope did not appear to inhibit the impact of the event itself. Almost 10,000 people attended the event, many perhaps in response to the “woke warriors” of Blackpool.