How does The Local Church and Living Stream Ministry’s lawsuit against Harvest House and the authors endanger the freedom of speech?
Before we answer this question, keep in mind that The Local Church and Living Stream Ministry have alleged in their lawsuit that some general statements in the Introduction of the Encyclopedia—statements that do not point to any group in particular and were never intended to—could lead readers to conclude that those general statements relate specifically to The Local Church and Living Stream Ministry and to all the other groups in the Encyclopedia. Their lawsuit does not point to any actual errors of fact, and does not challenge what the book states in the chapter on The Local Church. The claims in the lawsuit are based entirely upon unfounded speculation about how a reader might somehow misinterpret some brief and select portions of the Encyclopedia’s Introduction clearly meant to address cults and new religions in general. Having said this, if The Local Church and Living Stream Ministry actually prevail in this lawsuit, then media organizations everywhere would become dangerously vul
