A Big Win For Pro-Life Free Speech

A trial took place yesterday in Charlotte that no news organization bothered to notice or cover, but it was a major victory for free speech and specifically Biblically motivated speech, especially given the political/moral climate these days. A moment in the trial is seared in my memory: Pastor Flip Benham took the stand to defend himself, and laid his open Bible before him on the witness stand as he took his seat. The prosecuting attorney leaped to her feet and  objected before a single question was asked. The judge looked flummoxed. 

“What are you objecting?”he asked.

“The open Bible on the stand.”

“Why?”

“He could need that...he could have notes in there.”

The judge looked a bit annoyed, but asked Flip if he could close the Bible.

“I could,” he said, “But I was going to quote directly from it.”

“Can you quote without looking at it?”the judge asked.

“Yes...”

“Please close the Bible.”

So Flip’s attorney now began his questioning with this classic line: “Well of course he NEEDS it...we all NEED it....”

That was not as wonderful a moment as later in the trial. During cross-examination,  the prosecution  asked Flip to repeat what he said to the plaintiff that was the root of the entire case against Flip.

Flip answered, “ I said, you are dead, you are dead in your transgressions and sins...”

“Objection!”shouted the prosecution.

The judge stared at her. 

“You can’t object to your own question,” he said.

The accuser, who I will call J, accused Flip Benham, a pro-life pastor, of threatening to kill her. J is the same person who swerved in her car to hit me several times when I was ministering with Cities4Life to abortion minded women in front of the busiest abortion center in the SE. When I told her how dangerous and foolhardy that was, still crying from one particularly close call, she taunted, “Oh boo hoo! Vicky is scared. Go tell the cops!” J is also the person who played sexually explicit recordings at full volume over a sound system as our team prayed. Children were there with us. We have this on video. In the encounter with Flip in front of the abortion center, she was speaking on a bullhorn telling a group of people gathered to pray with their children about the finer points of masturbation.

But back to her accusation which led to the trial.

Flip went  to her, following the vile things she was spewing over the megaphone, and said, “You are dead, you are dead in your sin. You are dead in your trespasses, and out of your heart proceeds the filth from your mouth....” 

There were at least fifteen policemen there on site. J did not go to a single one to express her terror of death at the hands of Pastor Flip. She went to the magistrate later to file charges, saying Pastor Flip had threatened to kill her and she wanted him arrested. She feared for her life. The prosecution, and J, claimed that Flip said, “You are dead,” three times, but they did not finish his statement, which you can find for yourself in Ephesians 2:

Ephesians 2:1-5 NIV

[1] As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins...

Take note: J was not arrested or even cautioned for telling a group of children about masturbation or for playing sexually explicit recordings as children prayed with their parents for the women aborting their babies...but Pastor Flip Benham was arrested and brought to trial for sharing the Gospel. Free speech is only free speech when the message is one that meets prevailing political agendas, I guess.

The trial proceeded. The prosecution, determined to show that what Flip said was threatening, asked him six ways to Sunday to repeat what he had said. He was given at least five opportunities to share the Gospel...which he did...to a captive audience who was not allowed to speak or interrupt. 

It was one of God’s finest moments, in my opinion.

In the end, the judge found Flip not guilty of the charges. 

Meanwhile, back at the abortion center, one mom changed her mind and chose life. I had been there before racing to the trial. Today, I assume Flip will be back, doing what Flip has been doing for decades: Speaking for the unborn, and challenging everyone he encounters to put their trust and faith in the only one who can heal their heart of darkness. Jesus. 

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Ephesians 2:1-5 NIV

[1] As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, [2] in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. [3] All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. [4] But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, [5] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions---it is by grace you have been saved.

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