Unfortunately, this will be the final debate from a ladder at Speaker's Corner for Jay Smith, and for everyone, as ladders, boxes, or any stands have now been forbidden for use at that venue.
This particular debate between Jay Smith, and a Muslim named Muhammad Hijab was decided 'at the spur of the moment'.
The subject was exactly how did Islam and Christianity begin, using historical criticism for ones criteria. It was obvious from the very beginning that Muhammad wanted to speak more about the Trinity and the early church fathers than about any historical criticism.
It was also obvious that he doesn't have a very long attention span, for almost immediately he began to swing his arms, and even at one point spent his time trying to copy Jay's hand movements, mocking and mimicking him with various facial expressions, which were not very uplifting and quite immature.
Nonetheless, Jay kept the debate to topic, until his last summation, when both he and Muhammad were asked to get off their ladders, a new law which came into force during this debate, though it has been on the books from 1997
What does this mean for Speaker's Corner? We really don't know, because without speakers on ladders, it then becomes just another discussion corner, which one can find anywhere, and with anyone.
© Pfander Centre for Apologetics, 2017
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