Posted on 11/12/2004 2:57:58 PM PST by 4lifeandliberty
Christians Jailed In Philadelphia For Preaching God's Word November 02, 2004
The City of Philadelphia has shown itself intolerant of the Gospel and those who proclaim its message.
On Sunday, October 10, eleven Christians were arrested on the streets of Philadelphia as they shared the truth of the Scriptures and called upon hundreds of celebrating homosexuals to repent and believe the Gospel.
On the first day of the "REPENT AMERICA LIFE AND LIBERTY TOUR" eleven Christians took the Gospel to the Philadelphia Outfest Homosexual Pride Event. The Christians displayed banners with Biblical messages and began to preach the gospel to those in attendance. The event took place on a public street where thousands were milling.
The ministry team was immediately accosted by the "Pink Angels", a militant mob of homosexuals who attempted to drown out the call to repentance with dozens of loud whistles, and sought to hide the message with dozens of large sheets of pink styrofoam.
Even though the Christians obeyed all laws, city ordinances, and lawful requests by the Philadelphia police officers on hand, they were promptly and without warning, arrested and hauled off to jail where they spent 21 hours before being released on Monday morning.
Among the outrageous charges filed against these faithful witnesses were the following.
-Criminal Conspiracy, felony
-Possession of Instruments of Crime, misdemeanor (The Bible is a two-edged sword and was considered a threat to the lawless and ungodly)
Reckless Endangerment of Another Person, misdemeanor (This was entirely dreamed up)
Ethnic Intimidation, felony (Sodomites have worked for years to have clear Gospel preaching outlawed as a hate crime.)
Riot, felony (Dispite the fact that our behavior was above reproach and we were attacked by a mob of whistle blowing, obscenity screaming God haters, the Christians, and only the Christians, were charged.)
Failure to Disperse, misdemeanor (This charge is also bogus)
Disorderly Conduct, misdemeanor (A favorite allegation made by those who have no truly lawful charge to bring against those who would obey the great commission.)
Obstructing Highways, misdemeanor ( Once again this charge is ridiculous. A video crew was on hand to film the ministry outreach and the footage will clearly disprove the validity of every charge brought against us)
"The Scriptures are filled with accounts of faithful followers of the Messiah who proclaimed the Gospel dispite severe persecusion. We are called upon and commanded to do no less. To shrink back would not be Biblical Christianity. May all of the true Disciples of our Messiah live as he lived and obediently follow Him even as this world grows in its hatred toward the truth of the Gospel and toward His servants." said Dennis Green, director of Life and Liberty Ministries.
Related stories:
Worldnet Daily article http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40929
Press Release from Repent America http://www.repentamerica.com/pr_outfest.html
Cocerned Women for America article http://www.cwfa.org/articles/6522/CFI/family/index.htm
Agape Press article http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/132004a.asp
Interview with Michael Marcavage: http://www.theheartofthematteronline.com/archive.asp?archiveID=1121
ping
Actually, they had built a machine gun nest on the top level of the house, then started shooting when the cops came.
They also failed to obey the sanitation laws, since they didn't believe in using the sewage system or putting garbage curbside because they were "back to nature" types (well, except for owning machine guns), which is why the police had come to visit them.
The aerial bombardment was to take out the machine gun nest.
Marcavage again? Here's a repost from an earlier thread:
If any of you are thinking of backing this Marcavage guy up, please know beforehand with whom you associate. Here's an article from March of this year:
Preacher is jailed on sex charges
Against an emotional backdrop, a Philadelphia preacher convicted of trying to solicit sex from a West Chester teenager was sentenced yesterday to four to 10 years in prison.
The Rev. Craig Stephen White, a fiery street sermonizer known as "Brother Stephen," showed no reaction as Chester County Court Judge Anthony Sarcione imposed the punishment, which also included five years' probation.
"We are very pleased with Judge Sarcione's well-thought-out and appropriate sentence," said Assistant District Attorney Kimberly A. Callahan, who had requested four to eight years in prison.
Defense attorney Robert J. Donatoni said an appeal was being considered.
"Yes, it's a significant amount of time, but under the sentencing guidelines, it could have been worse," Donatoni said, calling the sentence "balanced and fair."
During the hearing, Donatoni presented witnesses who talked about the impact of White's ministry on children in North Philadelphia.
"I have nothing but positive [things] to say about Brother Stephen," said Evelyn Whitfield, a mother of five who credits White with encouraging her boys to pursue college.
White's wife, Lori, told Sarcione that her husband's imprisonment would be a hardship for her and the couple's three children, ages 5, 4, and 20 months.
Callahan presented testimony from the victim, his mother, and his aunt, who all focused on the negative impact of the crime.
"I feel degraded and feel no one has the right to rob someone of their innocence," said the victim, who is now 15 and finds himself "always looking over" his shoulder.
Speaking on his own behalf, White, 40, said he received a calling to be an evangelist at the age of 18. He said he came to Philadelphia 10 years ago because it was a spiritually needy region.
After the hearing, the victim and his family expressed relief.
"Justice was served," the victim's mother said.
Lori White left the courtroom with about a dozen supporters.
"I maintain my husband's innocence," she said.
Michael Marcavage, a character witness at White's trial, had been ejected earlier after Callahan expressed concern about an Internet site that offered a $5,000 reward for information on both the victim and prosecutors that might help free White.
Marcavage, 24, of Lansdowne, became agitated, stood up, and accused Callahan of lying. He also admitted setting up the Web site before being escorted from the courthouse.
Continued...
Brother Stephen White was a notorious preacher of hatred here in the Philadelphia region long before being exposed as a pederast. That Marcavage tried to subvert the process of justice on behalf of a hate-mongering pederast speaks volumes. I hope nobody again tries to associate FreeRepublic with this filth.
Your article about Michael Marcavage doesn't give the entire story. You mischaracterize him. In fact your conclusions are very false. Michael Marcavage is a good friend of mine and we minister often together. Before speaking ill about an individual that you don't know, why don't you call him and get the whole story first. His phone number and e-mail address can be found on the Repentamerica website. Before anyone else draws conclusions about the above article, I would suggest they hear the complete story.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0034738.cfm
Hymn-Singing Christians Fight Back
by Stuart Shepard, correspondent
Some evangelists face a possible 47 years in prison for doing nothing more than showing up at a gay pride event.
Eleven Christians facing prison time for singing hymns at a Philadelphia gay pride event are fighting back with a federal lawsuit challenging the charges against them.
Members of "The Philadelphia 11," as the group has been dubbed, face as many as 47 years in prison. Their ordeal began in October at a pro-homosexual event called OutFest, where—amid rainbow balloons and shirtless gay men in leather—Michael Marcavage and 10 others peacefully delivered a Gospel message.
But the event's volunteer homosexual security team, the Pink Angels, corralled the group with large sheets of Styrofoam while blowing whistles to drown out their voices.
"Although these people with the pink signs (were) blocking our message and impeding our way, we (were) the ones being put under arrest," Marcavage said. "We were doing nothing more than being very peaceful, very loving, just concerned about the well-being and salvation of those in attendance of the event."
Marcavage was charged with five misdemeanors and three felonies, which included ethnic intimidation, criminal conspiracy and inciting a riot. But the American Family Association Center for Law and Policy (CLP) is filing suit in federal court to stop the case in the state courts—not a common practice.
"It's very rare," said Joe Murray, a CLP staff attorney. "It doesn't happen on a daily basis. It only is justified when the facts warrant it."
Murray especially objects to the charge of ethnic intimidation, saying the city is using the legal system to muzzle a constitutionally protected message.
"What that says is that, basically, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to homosexuals is tantamount to a hate crime," he explained.
A victory, he added, would send a message to other cities to not tread on the rights of those who stand up for the Gospel.
Marcavage said in spite of the recent charges, he and the others will continue to do evangelism at pro-homosexual events in Philadelphia.
The preliminary hearing on the charges in state court is Dec. 14.
Emergency complaint filed in federal court
http://www.repentamerica.com/images/OutFest.PDF
PHAROH!! LET MY PEOPLE GO!
The arrest of these eleven brave souls, and now four of them have been ordered to stand trial, is a miscarriage of justice. The whole idea of hate crimes laws is a very dangerous one, and this is why, people cannot excersize thier constitutional freedoms without being arrested and charged with ridiculous charges such as these.
I urge people to storm the local Philly papers with letters defending the Philly 11, and I urge Christians to pray hard for these four people that are not headed for trial. This calls for direct action on the part of conservatives in America, and I urge everyone to express your outrage publically, and loudly.
We cannot sit by idly and watch to see what happens, if they can do this to people in Philly, they can do it to us where we are also. This must NOT be allowed to stand!
Defend the Philly 11!!
The homosexuals were the nuisance, these brave folks did nothing wrong, and yes, the cops should be charged with civil rights violations!
Can't be compared to gatherings held in private buildings.
Yes, it can. The Boy Scouts hold gatherings on public property. But they can exclude gays from their membership. It cuts both ways - that also means that gays can exclude groups that they do not want at their gathering.
You are inncorrect with regard to this situation. This was a public street and no permit was required. This area encompassed businesses and homes. It was open to all and the sodomite group was unable to exclude anyone from the public street.
If the scene was different, you would be correct. If the sodomites had rented a building or obtained permission to use an area for themselves, they would have the ability to exclude people. Thia setting was not like that.
I just got this note from the father of Lauren Murch (one of the Philadelphia 5)
I am not making a legal argument, but a civil one (as in "Civics"). The BSA fought long and hard to have their right to freedom of association upheld. They had SCOTUS affirm the right to exclude gays. But is that right to exclude only limited to the Boy Scouts? If a gay group is having a block party and has requested that an anti-gay-group stay away, does the anti-gay group diminish the right to freedom of association by disregarding the request to stay away? That is my problem with what Repent America did here.
God is Awesome! Somehow we can be quick to forget who controls the circumstances of our lives.
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