Freedom of speech vs. freedom of religion ... the issue has been bouncing around in Ohio for the past five years ...
Posted on 09/11/2015 1:04:32 PM PDT by Zakeet
Columbus, Ohio -- An Ohio church has sued a strip club and its scantily clad staff for protesting topless outside the house of worship during the past five years.
[Snip]
The lawsuit is the latest round in a nine-year battle that began when church members protested at the Foxhole [Strip Club] on weekends, posting patrons’ license plate numbers online and urging them to repent. [The club owner] sued the church in federal court and lost in 2009.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Freedom of speech vs. freedom of religion ... the issue has been bouncing around in Ohio for the past five years ...
Not enough bouncing.
I'd like to see the figures on church attendance. ;-)
Today we are going to have an outdoor service.
I was kind of thinking the same thing.
Church attendance is rising,
as attitudes harden over
the stiff encounters.
Reminds me I need to pickup some milk.
$10.00 says church attendance has exploded during this time.
And personally, I find breasts far less offensive than somebody posting my license plate number on the web. I can't recall the verse, but we are called to be meek when admonishing the sinner. Hanging someone else's dirty laundry out to dry on the world-wide web is kind of the opposite of that.
Overheard in a local neighborhood to the church:
Husband: “Honey, I think we should really go to church today.”
Wife: “why do you think that?”
Husband: “I have a few wrinkles in my life I need to get straightened out!”
Are there not laws which specifically protect places of worship from this kind of thing?
Why should there be?
If the protesters are not trespassing on Church property then they have the right to assemble.
I agree.
Or with a Southern accent;
“Isn’t that spatial!”
“Are there not laws which specifically protect places of worship from this kind of thing?”
I don’t know...I don’t think you can call a strip club a “place of worship” just because there are a lot of pairitioners in attendance.
The church is doing it wrong. They could have been showing these people the love of Christ.
The church could have been praying for them. They could have been getting to know them.
If I were there, instead of posting license plate numbers online and “urging them to repent,” I would throw a backyard BBQ and invite their entire staff over. Clothed, preferably. I certainly would not go aggressive and start condemning the sinners.
Jesus went to the wrong kind of parties.
If you are doing church right, there will be “bad people” who come to your service. If you love them they will be drawn to you. They won’t even know why they want to come. And they will hear about Jesus. Then one day, they will get really convicted and the Lord will draw them to Himself.
I can see from the photo that the church is really small. And they’ve been there at least nine years. Not growing much, are we? I wonder why...
“sounds like the church people brought this on themselves.”
Yep.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.