‘Why no public outcry when Christians are offended?’

Mr McConnell, pastor at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Whitewell, sparked a huge public outcry last month when he described Islam as “satanic” and “a doctrine spawned in hell.”

His comments attracted condemnation from a number of prominent politicians and religious leaders.

However, writing in his personal blog, The Sound of an Alarm, Rev Brian McClung defends Pastor McConnell and asks why there was no similar public outcry when many Christians were offended by the controversial play ‘The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)’, which ran at Newtownabbey’s Theatre at The Mill earlier this year.

“Only one conclusion can be drawn from these recent events, namely, that it is perfectly acceptable to mock the Bible and to offend Christians, but you cannot say anything against Islam or Muslims. Once you utter a word against the false doctrines and practices of Islam, or any other false religion in this Province, as Pastor McConnell did, the wrath of the ecumenical and secular world comes down upon you,” he said.

Rev McClung, the administrator of Newtownabbey Independent Christian School, added: “Pastor McConnell, who was perfectly correct to describe Islam as he did, has exposed the hypocrisy of the ecumenical and secular elite.”

• Read the full story in this week’s Times