Five Year Social Media Ban For Online Preacher – Vision Christian Media

An Oklahoma court has effectively banned an online Christian preacher from posting Bible verses on social media for the next five years.

Thats his punishment for expressing his moral and religious concerns in three posts about a church that endorses same sex marriage and drag queen events for children.

Lawyers from civil liberties advocate The Rutherford Institute have appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to overturn the restraining order on Pastor Rich Penkoski who leads the Tennessee-based online ministry Warriors for Christ.

The lawyers called the penalty excessive and a clear violation of the pastors First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion.

They point out the preacher made no threats or incitements of violence and had never met any of the complainants from an LGBT+ group.

The lawyers argued his social media ban is based solely on claims the plaintiffs felt harassed and fearful about how others might react to Bible verses cited in Pastor Penkoskis social media posts.

Religious individuals have a clear First Amendment right to publicly cite Bible verses that reflect their concerns about moral issues of the day without being accused of stalking, harassing, or terrorising those who are offended by the sentiments, said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute.

He warned, This case is a foreshadowing of the governments efforts to insulate the populace from all things that might cause offence by criminalising non-violent First Amendment activities such as speech, thought, and actions perceived to be politically incorrect.

In his first allegedly offensive post, Pastor Penkoski posted a generic photo of a same sex wedding and quoted Bible verses describing Gods judgment of sin.

In the second post, he criticised a churchs publicly shared photos of children celebrating Pride Month.

In the third, he weighed in on a local campaign to ban adult-oriented entertainment in public spaces.

In response to the LGBT+ group claiming that no adult-oriented entertainment had occurred at a pride event, the pastor posted a video and photos of a drag queen behaving in a suggestive manner near children at the event.

His lawyers say the five-year protective order against him is so vague it effectively prevents him from posting Bible verses or anything else which could prompt his accusers to complain about fearing for their safety.

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Five Year Social Media Ban For Online Preacher - Vision Christian Media