Posted on 07/10/2007 6:19:28 PM PDT by monomaniac
ELMIRA, NY, July 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Police arrested seven Christians who were praying prostrate and holding Bibles in a public park where a gay festival was just beginning, WorldNetDaily (WND) reports.
36-year old born again street preacher Julian Raven and his group called the "Magnificent Seven" came to pray at Wisner Park in downtown Elmira the evening before the Southern Tier Pride Festival. After telling the police what they were planning to do, the Christian group was informed that if they went ahead, they would be arrested.
When they tried to enter the public park, a female officer told them, "You're not going to cross the street. You're not going to enter the park and you're not going to share your religion with anybody in this park."
Raven told the officer that she was violating the Constitution. For the first time in his life as a Christian, he said, "I felt now my freedom of speech is threatened or challenged. I was being told I could not share my religion with anybody in that park."
According to their own account, without making any sound or approaching any people, the seven entered the park while lifting up their Bibles, lay face down on the grass before the stage, and were promptly handcuffed by officers in front of homosexual onlookers.
"We weren't protesting or trying to get arrested," Julian says in the Star Gazette. "We were there to pray for their sins. We planned to lay down, pray for a few minutes and leave peacefully. It wasn't our idea to disrupt the rally. But if it happens, it's out of our control."
Raven commented in WND, "We have a legal right to be at an event held in a public square. We're not a hate group," he said. "We're Christians and we're going to be there to pray."
Assistant Police Chief Mike Robertson said they were accused of "disturbing the peace" which includes "intent" to cause a public inconvenience, any "disturbance" of a meeting of persons, obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic, or taking part in "any act that serves no legitimate purpose," WND reports.
Another example of the growing public restrictions on free speech was the case of Pastor Holick in Wichita, Kansas. Holick was arrested only minutes after he and his church team arrived to hand out pamphlets on a sidewalk near the park where a gay fest was being held. Similarly, this June five members of the Faith Baptist Church were arrested in Petersburg, Florida, after carrying gay pride protesting signs that violated city regulations by being "wider than their torsos."
Read WorldNetDaily coverage: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56544
Read related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Freedom of Speech Rights for Christian Pastors Confronting Gay Pride Upheld in Pennsylvania http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/may/06052408.html
Media Labels Pastor 'Gay-Hating' for Preaching Against Homosexuality http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/06091302.html
Attack on Religious Freedom Begins in Earnest in Canada - Battleground Homosexuality http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/oct/06100601.html
Christian Arrested for Distributing Bible Quotes Opposing Homosexuality http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/06090703.html
The organization at whose meeting these folks were arrested, just lost any legitimate claim to pride.
They should’a also carried a koran, displayed it, and shouted “Allah Akbar” when they encountered the police.
all-purpose...
Isaiah 5:20
I’m sure the ACLU will be right on this.
In the American tradition, the police force should be sued.
How come Fred Phelps never gets arrested??
In this day and age, a very universal verse. Thanks for the reminder.
I wonder why this female cop was so protective of the gay event.
Just wondering.
Because he isnt acting consistently with true Christianity. Anything that makes Christians look like moonbats will get a free pass.
I wish I were a member of the NY Bar — I’d take this case in a proverbial New York Minute!
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto [them that are] wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
They intimidate. Phelps and his hateful brood of mothersandfathers are mostly lawyers by profession. They know where the lines are drawn, and they wouldn't hesitate to sue a city that crossed them.
“...Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine,
And valiant men in mixing strong drink;
Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away the rights of those who are in the right.”
It seems to me that this is a golden opportunity for a lawyer.
Not allowed to pray in a public park? Not allowed to carry Bibles into a park? Not even allowed to cross the street and approach a park?
There’s not even a pretence that these guys were threatening violence or hate speech or whatever the latest liberal shibboleth is.
you and all FReepers are welcome.
i love the Bible - it has all the answers.
(flame-guard activated)
They should have claimed they were Muslim. In that case, the officer would have protected their right to pray in the middle of the gathering.
Would also have helped had some enterprising in the group been carrying Mexican flags, shouting “Se Puede.”
Jesus and the Bible are all the flame guard you need.
The devil, as it were, is in the details. That is, if the area had a use permit in effect, under many circumstances outsiders can be excluded.
Often religious groups hold events in public areas with a permit, and police can be asked to exclude individuals who intend to disrupt their event as well. And “disruption” is not a general principle, but is determined to a great extent by the permit holder. A Muslim who enters a designated Christian prayer site then quietly begins to pray in the direction of Mecca could be just as disruptive.
It is not limited to just that, as well. Adult only events where alcohol is served may exclude minors, animal training events may exclude owners with unruly animals (cat at a dog show), some political events can exclude disruptive people in public places. It is quite a long list.
Raising the banner is far more problematic, as it truly is a free speech issue. But crashing a party with a designated and authorized, limited area and limited time is not a free speech issue, it is a free association issue to which the courts generally find in favor of the permit user.
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