The conviction of 78-year-old retired pastor Clive Johnston under Northern Ireland’s abortion buffer zone laws has sparked debate about religious freedom and free speech in public spaces. He received a criminal conviction after holding a peaceful open-air church service near a hospital, where he preached from John 3:16 without mentioning abortion or engaging in harassment. Police told him that he should hold a service inside a building, for example at a hospital chaplaincy, but not outside. That reveals far more than perhaps the authorities intended - it suggests a vision of Christianity confined to designated religious enclosures and removed from ordinary public life. Christians may worship in church buildings, but proclaiming biblical truth openly in the public square increasingly appears to be treated as a problem. Supporters of buffer zone laws maintain they are necessary to protect people from intimidation around abortion facilities, but in this case it was agreed that there had not been any abusive behaviour – and yet Johnston was still found guilty.