This could never happen in America.
Good!! If I am standing in line and can not just leave then it is not a matter of free speach!If he wants to stand outside on the sidewalk as people are coming and going then let him read from whatever he wants.
The trouble is that if the DMV allows folks to come in and read aloud to the essentially “captive” folks waiting there, it has to take all comers. Sure, this guy may be harmless, but then the local Satanists come, etc.
Frankly, I wouldn’t really want to be proselytized to when I’m in a location that I’m stuck at: a bus or subway, in a queue at the DMV, etc.
That being said, this raises a sore spot because of the double standard we’ve been seeing in such places as Dearborn.
There ought to be a law preventing Congress from making a law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. In fact, that is such a fundamental God-given human right that it should be part of the supreme law of the land. I thought that was so obvious that it didn’t need to be written down in a free country, but I was wrong. If we wrote it down though, would anyone pay attention?
-Sorry-
He should not have been reading inside the building. Arrest? They should have just asked him to go outside.
He was not arrested for reading the bible. He was arrested for harassing people. If he was reading th phonebook it would have been the same result.
I don’t see how there’s a right to inflict any sort of “reading alound” to people who are already having a bad enough day standing in line at the DMV. Exploiting them as a captive audience is unfair and just plain annoying. It wouldn’t matter ~what~ he’s reading. He could be reading the Constitution itself and I’d still hope somebody made him stop.
Getting arrested for preaching on public property isn’t just for China anymore.
He was not in public he was inside the building.
There is a MAJOR difference between personal reading of the Bible to yourself and preaching to people at the DMV.
I went to the video thinking it was going to be an incident taking place in China.
Part of being a citizen of these Unites States is suffering things we do not agree with for the sake of Liberty.
The Founders knew that religious practice had to be protected from the tiny-minded people who cannot bear hearing the Word of God spoken aloud in public. That is one of the reasons for the prohibition against infringing upon the practice of religion in the First Amendment.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”
Reading the Bible aloud in public is an inseparably essential element to the practice of Christianity, as it is core to Gospel presentation.
The actions of CHP in this case are in direct violation of the First Amendment because they denied a Christian the right to freely exercise his religion.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t like hearing the Bible read aloud. If that Christian’s rights are taken from him, then yours, dear Freeper-readers, are likewise in danger.
Shame on you, California Highway Patrol.
“To those who cite the first amendment as reason for excluding God from more and more of our institutions and everyday life, may I just say: The first amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people of this country from religious values; it was written to protect religious values from government tyranny.” – Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States
So these guys were arrested for impeding the operation of an open business? Where was the CHP when Code Pink blocked the Marine recruiting office in Berkeley for weeks? It sure seems that would be more applicable.
ok people in line at the DMV are off limites because they can not leave.
This person is a idiot.
This was settled in a series of Hari Krisna cases where they were doing the same thing to people waiting in line at the airports.
Freedom of Religion/Speech also includes the ability to elect not to listen.
He should have been stopped.