“Please remember first, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the constitution of our dear country. Why was it written but to establish a home and government that allowed freedom? Freedom of speech, so that none would fear to speak up for their rights or explain their beliefs. Freedom of employment, so that anyone might earn wealth and move up in the world. Freedom of religion, so that people from all over the world could live peaceably side-by-side.

“These freedoms, enjoyed and cherished by the majority, have been perennially and unjustly withheld from various minorities over the centuries. I submit to you that Christians like myself have now joined the ranks of those minorities in our country.

“Consider, please, the consequences of applying freedom in the way the prosecution is here asking you. They have argued that my speech and actions have violated the defendant‘s freedom to live as she sees fit. However, my actions and words toward her were simply an expression of my freedom to live as I see fit. The sole difference is in the fact that I see fit to live according to the Christian scriptures.

“Now if you will bear with me for just a few minutes longer, I’ll explain why I believe I have neither slandered nor hated the defendant - Mrs. Tetzel, as I have known her for the last 10 years.

“Mrs. Tetzel was an exemplary member of our local church. (To be clear, I have also been a member of that church, and remain one.) About two years ago I noticed that she was developing a habit that the Christian Bible defines as sin. (Again to be clear, this habit is the content of the slander I have been accused of. You are familiar with it from the accounts of other witnesses, so I don’t need to repeat it here.)

“When I first noticed this sin in Mrs. Tetzel, I waited and prayed for approximately six months. I kept to myself about it; I told neither my husband nor my best friends nor our pastors. I did not approach Mrs. Tetzel until the sin was obviously a habit, and one which she seemed not to be resisting.

“When I approached her, I did so privately as the Bible instructs. I invited her to coffee at my house while my husband and children were not at home - just she and I. I expressed regret that what I had to say would not be easy to hear. I assured her of my affection for her as a Christian and a personal friend. I showed her in the Bible where her habit is prohibited and cited three specific instances I’d observed over the past month. I reminded her of the warnings in the Bible against such sin. We looked together at the dire consequences of unaddressed sinful habits, from ruined interpersonal relationships to exclusion from Christian fellowship. She was quiet and seemed receptive. When she left my house I was hopeful that I had won her over.

“However, a few months later Mrs. Tetzel’s habit seemed to still have an unchallenged hold on her. The next time I approached her, I had her and two of our closest friends over to my house when no one else was home. This is also according to biblical instruction. We followed the same procedure as my first confrontation.

“Over the next nine months, those two close friends and I confronted Mrs. Tetzel about her sinful habit three times. Each time she became more and more agitated. She seemed to be trying to avoid us at church services and functions. As a last resort, these two ladies and I requested help from our pastors, again on biblical instruction. Only when Mrs. Tetzel continued in denial and reluctance to resist her sin, did the pastors call her before our whole local church to be excommunicated from our fellowship.

I have shed many tears and lost much sleep in prayer for Mrs. Tetzel. I have attempted to protect her reputation in every way I could. If she had not been a member of our local church I would have done no more than pray for her and advise her to live wisely according to what I am convinced is wisdom.

“I am free to do all that I did under the constitution of our nation. And in all that i did i simply tried to be a good Christian friend. Please don’t punish me for that.”