"In making this baptism a public event, they are stepping out of the church realm and stepping into showmanship...To DEMAND that they be allowed to use a privately owned park, even a public owned park, that is pushing the envelope...They can find a spot on the Rappohannock somewhere that no one has to see this event."
They need to do the same thing with anyone caught reading a Bible.
Why should someone have the right to force their views on another, especailly in a public park where people should have the right to picnic unoffended.
Let them read their Bibles at home... </sarcasm>
Ed
Reading my Bible is NOT a public event, and is not a visible event, it is someone reading a book, usually only people who actually OWN a Bible even know that one is being read.
But a public Baptism in a Public park smacks of showman ship, not a sacred event in the person's life, this is something more for the Church Family to enjoin in, not something happening at a Park, it just does not go well with the fleshly worldly entertainment aspect of a Park.
There are plenty of places on that river that can be used, I am sure, to force the use of the park sounds like grandstanding, not just an exercise of freedom of religion.