Posted on 09/05/2005 5:50:11 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has canceled three visits to Colorado after emotions over her protest outside President Bush's ranch boiled over at a church and college campus.
A Glenwood Springs church voted Thursday not to allow Sheehan to give a speech scheduled for later this month after some members threatened to leave the church if she came.
Church member Mo Barz said he thinks it is inappropriate for the church to host a political speaker.
"I was definitely against having her," he said. "I felt all along the church should rescind any agreement they had to have her be there."
Sheehan has gained notoriety for her monthlong protest outside Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas and her demands to meet with him to discuss her 24-year-old son Casey's death in Iraq. Detractors have said she is demoralizing the troops and using her son's death to push a liberal platform.
The day after the church called off her visit there, Sheehan canceled other visits to the state, citing "more pressing needs elsewhere in the country," according to Karen Sjoberg, director of Grand Valley Peace and Justice, which had arranged for one of the visits.
Sheehan was scheduled to speak at Mesa State College in Grand Junction on Sept. 15. After the school received complaints that she would be appearing on campus, the school issued a statement saying it did not support or sponsor Sheehan's visit. Sheehan's camp then canceled the visit.
She also canceled a stop in Paonia.
HA HA HA, this is great
Wisconsin doesn't want her
Colorado doesn't want her
Husband in California doesn't want her
This couldn't have happened to nicer person. 8^D
This is exactly what needs to happen to this band
of irrelevant dipstix. Theaten to boycott organizations
who INVITE them to spew their crappola!
These people are in absolute cahoots with insanity.
For anybody to find the least bit of value in what
wacko Cindy Sheehan has to say, should have their head examined...
Geez, with her rants usually being laced with profanity that would make a sailor blush, it's a surprise that a house of worship would have invited her to be the guest speaker. Perhaps they should have invited her inside the doors to cleanse her soul instead.
Don't forget the rest of her family wants
to disassociate themselves with her and her sister...
They preach "peace" "peace" "peace" when in fact they are saying "piece" "piece" "piece".
I wonder if the "Peace Train" will have any stops in New Orleans to pick up anyone? ;)
Damn, good catch. I forgot about that.....
It'd be interesting to know what kind of "church" was going to sponsor Cindy. I'd guess that it is yet another apostate Protestant hulk, but you never know. Seems like the reporter went out of the way to avoid naming this bunch but singled out the parishioner for his temerity. That guy, even if he is apostate, should get a medal for standing up against the wolves. Probably the only ram in the fold with the sheep.
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You guessed right. Here is some of the advance propaganda for her visit in the local rag:
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20050826/VALLEYNEWS/50825013
Peace mom to make Glenwood appearance
Cindy Sheehan plans Western Slope stops in Sept.
By April E. Clark
Post Independent Staff
August 26, 2005
Give peace a chance.
Like the John Lennon song, thats the message Jim Chenoweth hopes will resonate during Cindy Sheehans visit to Glenwood Springs on Sept. 16.
Weve been trying to get more respectful conversation between people who have different views, said Chenoweth, of the Roaring Fork Peace Coalition. We are trying to be for peaceful resolution of conflict, instead of war.
Sheehan, whose son, Army Specialist Casey A. Sheehan, was killed in Iraq on April 4, returned to a vigil Wednesday outside of President Bushs Texas ranch in Crawford. She started the vigil Aug. 6.
Last week, the Anti-war Mom as she has been dubbed by media traveled to California with her sister after their 74-year-old mother suffered a stroke. Chenoweth is not aware of a change in plans for her Western Slope visit.
Chenoweth said Sheehans visit was planned before the internationally publicized peaceful protest during Bushs vacation.
We had firmed up her visit before she went to Crawford, he said. In terms of progressive press, her name was out there.
I watched her on Democracy Now before she was going home and she said she had commitments through the end of September and that she would miss the big rally at the end of September to follow Bush back to Washington, Chenoweth said. I think shes committed to do the planned events, and she wants to talk to kids to do counter-recruitment. But her mothers health is the unknown variable.
As a founding member of Gold Star Families for Peace, Sheehan has called for soldiers to be pulled out of Iraq. She also wants to discuss the matter of her sons death one-on-one with Bush, which he has no intentions of doing.
This is quite amazing, said Glenwood Springs resident Dean Moffatt, the facilitator for Sheehans appearance, which will take place at the First United Methodist Church. Shes on the international radar screen and shes coming to Glenwood Springs.
To some, an anti-war protester appearing at a church may be inappropriate. Chenoweth thinks its the right fit.
I like the idea of having her at the church. War is a moral issue and a spiritual issue, Chenoweth said. Having her at the church makes sense. Isnt there something in the Ten Commandments about though shalt not kill?
I would rather have a church packed with people open to talking about faith than have it at an high school auditorium, he said. Its so sad that this country is so polarized. It reminds me a lot of Vietnam. Im hoping we can have more conversation about war.
A First United Methodist congregation member, Moffatt also defended the churchs decision to host the event.
The Methodist Church has a motto: Open minds, open hearts, open doors, he said. We are a venue for important issues of our times and our country. We strive to be a venue for responsible and cutting-edge issues.
If President Bush was in town and wanted to meet with people at our church we would welcome him, he said. We see Cindy as patriotic and a symbol for a part of the country that wants very much for the war to end and our soldiers to come home.
Along with Glenwood Springs, Sheehan will appear in Grand Junction on Sept. 15 and Paonia on Sept. 17. Chenoweth said she plans a one-hour interview during KDNKs Friday noon show with Maura Masters, an owner of Grassroots Community Television.
Chenoweth will drive Sheehan to Paonia after the radio interview, an opportunity he is excited about.
Being a psychotherapist, I plan to ask her, How can I support you during this time? he said. I see a grieving mother someone incensed and angry about the war. I want her to know we can help her get through this.
Contact April E. Clark: 945-8515, ext. 518
aclark@postindependent.com
That's the only thing I can think of, but remember there are many churches in this country that disassociate themselves from the bible, the word of God and his righteousness.
How can there be protests? Doesn't she have Absolute Moral Authority?
I heard she was heading to NOLA..
The Liberal activist church sees this as a war, a mission -- to divide America and Americans. The same as Sheehan does.
They preach "peace" "peace" "peace" when in fact they are saying "piece" "piece" "piece".
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The AP story is apprarently a synposis of this more detailed account from the local rag.
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20050903/VALLEYNEWS/50902010
Church turns away Sheehan
By Dennis Webb
Post Independent Staff
September 3, 2005
Reflecting the national divide over the war in Iraq, a Glenwood Springs church has decided that Cindy Sheehan is not welcome to speak there.
The decision sends organizers scrambling for another local speaking venue for the anti-war mother of a soldier who died in Iraq.
Sheehan, who has garnered much media attention after camping out near Bushs vacation home in Crawford, Texas, had been scheduled to speak at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Glenwood Sept. 16.
The churchs administrative advisory council voted Thursday evening against letting Sheehan appear there.
Church member Dean Moffatt, who had helped arrange to let Sheehan speak at the facility, expressed disappointment over the churchs decision.
Our church should be for peace and for an open dialogue for discussing issues that affect us all, and hearing things firsthand. We should be an open society and continue to strive for that, Moffatt said.
He blamed a neoconservative group within the church for the decision to turn away Sheehan.
They ignore the fact that shes a mother of a fallen soldier, a grieving person. They buy into the conservative media and the talk shows and the conspiracies you know, that shes a front for various organizations, etc. Its a real threatening thing, and they completely forget the Bible, they completely forget what our faith is based upon, and they react and this is whats happened.
Some 40 to 50 people discussed the issue at a church meeting before the council voted. Some church members threatened to leave the church if it let Sheehan speak there, and that would have hurt the church financially, said church member Mo Barz.
Barz, who considers himself a strong supporter of the church, said he was among those who might have left the church if Sheehan had been allowed to speak there.
I was definitely against having her. I felt all along the church should rescind any agreement they had to have her be there.
He said he thought it was inappropriate for the church to host a political speaker.
Said Moffatt, If the president came, hed sure be welcome. Politics becomes a dirty word for some people and they turn around and use it in another way.
Barz said he doesnt think its right to compare President Bush to an activist.
We should welcome the president. After all, he was voted in as the president and we should treat him as such.
Moffatt said he became involved in Sheehans local appearance when he was approached by local peace activist Jim Chenoweth. Moffatt said he has sometimes helped arrange to let groups use the church facilities in the past. He said he approached the churchs pastor, Robert Sewell, and was given approval for the idea.
Once the plan became public, however, some church members began to speak out against Sheehan speaking there, including in letters to the editor in the Post Independent.
Moffatt said the church long has made its facilities available to a range of organizations, such as the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, various environmental groups, musical groups, the Extended Table soup kitchen, and Alcoholics Anonymous.
Its kind of what we do; its our community outreach type of thing, he said.
Political organizations such as the League of Women Voters have held events there as well, although usually with pros and cons of issues being presented, he said. The church also has hosted meet-the-candidate events. Moffatt said he cant recall a political person giving a stand-alone speech there, but some have passed through for social hours.
Politics means different things to different people, he said.
Moffatt said his church, like many mainstream churches, has a neoconservative wing, sometimes made up of older people, sometimes composed of retired military.
Some are elderly and very faithful, and (hold the belief) its my country, right or wrong.
Some also have children in the military, he said.
Out of this comes a coalition of people who are very afraid. They see the direct links between 9-11 and Iraq. They start to equate Bush with Jesus. They feel that their church is their last refuge in many ways, that things are falling apart all around. Theyve reacted very, very emotionally to Cindy Sheehan.
Yet Moffatt said he thinks another significant part of the church congregation believes in its motto, Open minds, open hearts, open doors.
Moffatt believes the churchs decision runs contrary to what he said is an official stance of the United Methodist Church of the United States against the war although he added that the local church isnt bound by that stance.
Barz, who served in the field artillery during World War II, said he didnt favor the war in Iraq initially. He believes Bush was misinformed about possible weapons of mass destruction there, and now that none have been found he wishes the United States had been more hesitant to attack.
I probably felt that we shouldnt have been in it in the first place, but now that were in it I think we should stick with it. We have to do our best to get out of there and hopefully it wont take too long.
Barz said Sheehan tried to talk her son out of joining the service.
He knew what he was getting into and he had a lot to gain, he said.
Had he not died, he stood to benefit from the G.I. bill, just as Barz got a college education through the bill, Barz said.
He said probably a majority of church members completely disagree with Moffatt regarding whether Sheehan should have been allowed to speak there.
Barz said he believes the churchs council made its decision by a 6-4 vote. Sewell declined immediate comment on the churchs decision, other than to say that the facility wouldnt be made available to Sheehan and the church leadership was preparing a statement to be released later on the matter. Moffatt said one of the council members in the minority on the decision was his wife, Wendy.
Moffatt believes the churchs split reflects the nations divide regarding Iraq.
I think the country is polarizing. Its seen in all these different walks of life, he said.
Moffatt said that before this weeks vote, he owed his allegiance to the church and saw himself only as a facilitator in the effort to have Sheehan speak locally. Now, he believes hes free to help find another place for her to speak, and thinks another location will be found.
He said he has no plans to leave the church.
I would never threaten things like that, he said. Im sorry, if somebody says my way or Im on the road, to me thats a hollow threat.
Moffatt said he regrets the churchs position, given the role churches have played in political issues such as the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War.
Still, he said hes received a lot of support in the community from people over the issue. And while he and other church members who take his view might lose sometimes, We might gain because were trying to enter into these issues. This is not over with. Were not all going back into our little cubbyholes, he said.
Media spokespeople associated with Sheehan had no immediate comment Friday about the churchs decision, or whether she has experienced similar treatment elsewhere.
Contact Dennis Webb: 9450-8515, ext. 516
dwebb@postindependent.com
Open dialogue, Mr Moffat? I trust you had a General or some other "Hawk" to balance your "open Dialogue", right?
This was a Methodist Church. No surprises there.
Anyone know the name of the church? I only ask because it wasn't mentioned. Sometimes it's more what they don't print than what they do.
"Yes, she could use her newfound spare time to get a RABIES SHOT."--
You People Are INSANE----Thats Why I Cant Stop Reading---I'm Addicted!!
Yes. I'd heard she was donationg suff from Camp Cindy. I don't know if that's still on.
......This is quite amazing, said Glenwood Springs resident Dean Moffatt, the facilitator for Sheehans appearance, which will take place at the First United Methodist Church.....
_____________ * ___________________________ * __________
I guess, Mr. Chenoweth, we should have just told the terrorists
that it was OK to murder over 3,000 of our Brothers and Sisters on 9-11.
If there had been a direct effect to Mr. Chenoweth, I wonder if he
would still maintain this type of thought.
Curious are these appeasement weasels. Is this just a front or are they this simplistic?
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