Business lost: Hoteliers Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang
The Vogelenzang's business suffered only after a Muslim guest ~ who is an English convert to Islam on her marriage to a Muslim man a year earlier ~ made a complaint about offensive comments made about Islam.
What was shocking to most is the priority given to comments made about Islam, whereas the comments against the Evangelical Christian believers ~ such as Jesus was a minor Prophet [said her husband told her] were completely ignored. In the debate this likely got the response ~ your Prophet was a 'warlord' ~ as a new convert to Islam Ms Tazi would not have been aware of the many battles Muhammad fought to spread Islam. Although as it was a heated dining room debate no one is quite sure how it all went ~ but earlier on Ms Tazi had had spats with other guests about her views on her new found religion.
The crux of the debate and the point the judge threw the case out:
Mrrs Tazi who is 60 yrs-old claimed she said:
’would you like me to get my breasts out and wear a short skirt and be pie-eyed?'
But what it was later reported, she actually said:
’would you prefer me to have my tits out, my skirt so short my backside is hanging out and getting rat-arsed [drunk]?”
Later, QC, the couple’s counsel, suggested that Mrs Tazi was no “shrinking violet” +
But for this and the priority given under the law to Islam ~ an argument which should have ended there ~ was blown out of proportion and ended up in court. And further the absolutely climate of fear surrounding all things to do with Islam ~ has meant that the hospital that once was their main source of customers has since refused to deal with them.
They are not the only ones to have their business and livelihoods ruined after a run in with Islam in this PC environment. A British foster carer was removed from the register ~ not because there were any problems with the many children she looked after over the years ~ but because one 17 year old girl in her care converted to Christianity from Islam. Although she kept the social worker informed ~ the local council thought it offensive to Islam. And took all the children out of the woman's care. The only difference is that in the Islamic world the woman and likely the girl would have been imprisoned for this "offense".
The two Christian hoteliers cleared last year of insulting a Muslim guest are being forced to sell up because their business has collapsed.
Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang are putting their nine-bedroom hotel up for auction in May because they can no longer pay the mortgage.
Despite donations sent to them by Christian supporters from around the world, they still have debts of well over £400,000.
They are also considering a civil action against the police who brought the prosecution.
Mrs Vogelenzang, 54, said last night it was 'devastating' that they could be left with nothing as the result of a case that should never have come to court.
'Where do we go from here?' she said. 'How do we start all over again?'
The couple saw their Liverpool business brought to its knees after an investigation into what was deemed a religiously aggravated hate crime against Ericka Tazi. The 60-year-old white British convert complained that the couple had called the prophet Mohammed a 'warlord' and told her that Muslim women were oppressed.
The case against them was thrown out after a judge at Liverpool magistrates' court said it flew in the face of their right to freedom of religious expression.
After the victory, the couple hoped they would be able to revive the Bounty House Hotel near Aintree racecourse, which they had built up over ten years.
Four months later, however, they have failed to attract enough customers and are losing about £8,000 a month.
One of their main sources of income before the case was the National Health Service, which used Bounty House for doctors attending conferences and groups of patients on pain-relief courses at the Walton Centre, part of Aintree Hospital. But the centre stopped sending guests to the hotel after the complaint by Mrs Tazi, one of its patients.
'Before the complaint, we were their first choice,' said Mrs Vogelenzang. 'But they seem to have lost interest in us. Despite the excellent feedback we received at the end of every course, our reputation hasn't counted for anything. That is upsetting.'
The couple remain furious with the police for the way the case was handled and are consulting The Christian Institute, the independent pressure group that paid for their defence, about launching a civil action.
Lawyers believe they might be able to claim they were discriminated against because of their Christian background.
Mrs Vogelenzang added: 'Many people thought that when we won in court, everything would be OK. In reality, it has brought us to the brink of destruction, so it has not been a victory at all.'
Daily Mail
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