Posted on 07/18/2006 5:58:47 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Group Says City's "Free Speech Zones" Stifles Their Religious Mission
(STNG) CHICAGO -- A Philadelphia-based evangelical Christian organization filed suit in federal court Tuesday seeking an emergency restraining order to allow them to preach and hand out their literature at Navy Pier.
The plaintiffs are five members of the group Repent America, which, according to the suit, seeks "to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in the public square."
The group contends they have "approximately 10,000" members "who live across the United States." The members of the group listed as plaintiffs are, according to the suit, residents of Pennsylvania and New York. The suit is brought against the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which operates Navy Pier.
The plaintiffs, according to the suit, "are Christians who regard the Bible as literal authority, and in keeping with this sincerely held religious belief, plaintiffs believe they are obligated to tell as many other people as he can about what he believes is their individual need to be 'born again.'"
The plaintiffs "accomplish this purpose primarily through the public distribution of free religious literature and one-on-one discussion in the public square."
According to the suit, the plaintiffs were doing just this on Saturday, July 15, at Navy Pier, when a police officer told them "they must leave or be arrested. Another officer informed plaintiffs that they must stand in designated 'free speech zones.'"
On Sunday, the plaintiffs returned to Navy Pier, and were told they could hold their demonstration across the street from the Pier. They were then told they could not stay in the park across from Navy Pier and were arrested, the suit says. The suit alleges that following their arrest, a police officer told one of the plaintiffs, as he was picking up his box of "gospel tracts," to "get this s**t our [sic] of here. Nobody wants to hear your bulls**t."
The plaintiffs met with an attorney for the city on Monday, the suit says, who reiterated that the group could preach in the free speech zones, but the suit contends that "confining plaintiffs to free speech zones would prevent their ministry objectives because they would be unable to effectively engage in dialogue with the public."
The suit seeks a court order preventing the MPEA from confining the plaintiffs to free speech zones.
During the International Leather Man competition he was still reminding people, "There ain't no homosexuals in heaven!"
Guess the Chicago PD morphed into the Village People.
Free Speech Zones???
But on the other hand, without these boundaries, there would still be Hairy Krishna's littering airports with their tripe, or Moonies trying to pin flowers on people.
But the cop(s) were out of line.
So you think that Christian evangelists should be arrested for exercising their First Amendment freedom of speech in the public square?
It didn't end with the lions in the Colosseum.
That's a good question, think he'll answer it?
While vacationing in the Smokey Mountains this summer I noticed "Free Speech Zone" signs in the parking lots in the park. I figured it was for environmental wackos. No one was using them so I really don't know who they were for. However, they are real annoying when they show up in a nice mountain view picture.
Very good of you Kommrad.
Yes I'll answer; as I took an oath of So Help me God to Support and Defend the Constituion against All Enemies both Foreign and Domestic. Not Once, but 5 times and so far God hasn't called me home to relieve me of that Oath yet.
As to my statement I only said that from the article it sounded like the "Witnessers" might be Phred Phelps Phreaks, nothing more.
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