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　　MICHAEL OVERD is an evangelical Christian with strong views on the sinfulness of homosexuality and the wrongness of Islam (except, presumably, on the issue of homosexuality). He likes to hold forth among the shoppers of Taunton, a quiet town in south-west England. But on March 23rd Mr. Overd was found guilty of using threatening or abusive language—although a more serious charge of causing “religiously aggravated” offence was rejected. The judge, Shamim Qureshi, ordered him to pay ￡250 ($375) in compensation to a man who said he was left feeling “ashamed and belittled” by the preacher's stance on same-sex relations.

　　迈克尔·奥维德是一名福音基督徒，他认为同性恋是一种原罪，而伊斯兰教是错的(不过可能在认为同性恋有罪上或许他们是一致的)，对此他持有强硬的态度。他喜欢在英格兰西南部的一个安静小镇汤顿里，向顾客作长篇大论的演讲。但在3月23号，奥维德被判使用恐吓性或侮辱性语言的罪名，尽管更严重的指控给—造成“宗教骚扰”被驳回了。法官沙米姆·库勒西令其向一名男士支付250镑(374美元)的赔偿金，这名男士表示因牧师在同性关系所持立场令他感到“羞愧和轻视”。

　　When Mr. Overd objected to “paying 250 to a sodomite” the judge threatened him with 45 days in prison. The preacher then aGREed to pay compensation but said he would appeal. “I find it quite incredible that a Muslim judge finds a Christian guilty and wants to protect homosexuals, whom I have no personal hatred against,” he declared on leaving the courtroom.

　　当奥维德拒绝“付250镑给一个同性恋者”时，法官威胁警告他将面临45天的牢狱之灾。这位牧师最终答应了支付赔偿金但表示将会上诉。在离开法庭时他声明：“我觉得一名穆斯林法官判定一名基督徒有罪还想保护同性恋是不可思议的，但我对同性恋并没有个人恩怨。”

　　The evangelist has acquired some unlikely defenders. The National Secular Society (NSS), which fights religious privilege of all kinds, says the case vindicates its long-running campaign to safeguard free speech from sloppy legislation. Mr. Overd was prosecuted under the Public Order Act, which outlaws “threatening, insulting or abusive” language and can result in prison sentences of up to seven years if the offence is deemed to be racially or religiously motivated.

　　这位福音传道者获得了一些令人意想不到的捍卫者。英国世俗协会(NSS)反对任何形式的宗教特权，该协会表示这个案子证明了在漏洞百出的法律下争取自由言论的长期运动是正确的。奥维德在公共秩序法之下被迫害，这部法律将“威胁性、污蔑性或侮辱性”话语定为非法，如果罪行是种族或宗教问题而引发的话，可能会被判高达七年的有期徒刑。

　　Thanks to a campaign by the NSS and others, the law has been amended so that insulting language no longer incurs prosecution merely because the police think it has the potential to offend. It must be shown that an insult was directed at a particular person or group, and that offence was taken. But civil libertarians want the law further amended to protect insulting speech and take away the reference to religious aggravation. Although Britain has abolished its ancient ban on blasphemy, which punished insults against Christianity, the concept of religious aggravation amounts to a new sort of blasphemy law that could be used to prevent criticism of any religion, argues Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the NSS.

　　由于NSS和其他人推动，这项法律已被修订。因此警方再也不能认为公民的言语有冒犯倾向而对其提出诉讼，警方必须要证明侮辱是针对某个特定的人或群体，并且该冒犯行为已被人当真。但公民自由主义者希望法律进行进一步修订，保护侮辱性的言语并取消关于宗教骚扰的条文。尽管英国已取消亵渎神明这一禁止侮辱基督教的古老禁令，宗教骚扰这一概念意味着一种新的亵渎神明法，可以被用来阻止对任何宗教的批判，NSS的执行理事基斯·波蒂厄斯·伍德如是说。

　　One of Britain's best known gay-rights campaigners, Peter Tatchell, has offered to speak in court in favour of the preacher's right to hold forth. He thinks that Mr. Overd's views are bigoted and would protest against them. But being spared offence is not a human right, he says: “In a free, democratic society, the criminalization of unpleasant opinions is a step too far.”

　　皮特·塔切尔是英国最著名的同性恋权利捍卫者之一，他提出要在法庭上发言支持牧师演讲的权利。他认为奥维德的观点是僵化的并会抵制这些言行。但他说，不受冒犯不是一项人权，“在一个自由民主的社会，对不受欢迎的意见定罪未免太过了。”