Posted on 07/07/2007 8:00:14 AM PDT by Ol' Sparky
Now praying gets 7 Christians arrested
Cops call holding Bibles while lying prostrate 'disturbing peace'
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Christians have been arrested recently at "gay" festivals for nothing more than having a protest sign that is "wider than their torso," but now police have gone even further, targeting Bible-carrying ministers for praying on public property and for standing on a public sidewalk near a "gay" festival.
One of the new cases comes from Elmira, N.Y., where police arrested seven Christians who went into a public park where a "gay" fest was beginning and started to pray, faces down, while holding their Bibles.
They were cited for "disturbing the peace," and Assistant Police Chief Mike Robertson told WND that the seven are accused of a "combination" of allegations under that statute, which includes the "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."
The second such case arose in Wichita, Kan., where police arrested Spirit One Christian Center Pastor Mark Holick, who had received permission earlier from officers to be on the public sidewalk adjacent to the park where the festival was occurring but then was arrested doing exactly that.
Julian Raven, a street preacher, told WND his group of seven assembled to pray for three hours the night before Elmira's recent "pride" festival in promotion of the homosexual lifestyle.
"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."
He said he contacted police, who told him he had no free speech rights in the public park.
"The female officer, she said, '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,'" he told WND.
"When she said that, for the first time in my life as a Christian, I felt now my freedom of speech is threatened or challenged," he said. "I was being told I could not share my religion with anybody in that park."
Raven said he told the officer "she was violating the Constitution that she had sworn to uphold, and she was very agitated and adamant, and couldn't look me straight in the eye."
Raven asked for the justification for such a threat and was not given a response.
He said his team of Christians then went into the park, holding Bibles over their heads to signify their subservience to God's Word, and lay on their faces to pray.
Within three minutes, police officers had put handcuffs on the seven, to the cheers of the homosexual crowd, he said.
He said a court date is pending for the seven July 23.
"I have the highest respect for the police officers. They have a very difficult job to do. But we were treated unfairly in a public setting. This was a hasty show of force. It was not called for," he said.
He said if the situation is left unchallenged, the city of Elmira will be in the position of being able to control the content of people's messages in a lawful assembly – or even thoughts if they are nearby.
"We didn't say boo to a goose, still we were arrested," he said.
The local newspaper reported the arrests came just "moments" after Elmira Mayor John Tonello delivered a speech "celebrating diversity."
And the actions prompted some immediate criticism from newspaper readers.
"I was appalled and disgusted by the gay stories strewn through the … paper. … What was even more disturbing was the way the city acted. Since when is it illegal to sit on the ground in a public park and recite Bible verses? Are they not protected by the same Constitution that allows gay people to have their gay pride event. These Bible thumpers had their constitutional right to free speech and assembly trampled on by the city. They should not have been arrested," said Kevin Raznoff.
Robertson told WND the Christians "certainly" have a right to assemble, but not on public property when there's an "organized" event there. Asked repeatedly about how the "disturbance" statute relates to First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech, he did not answer.
"Obviously, they caused a disruption to an event that was taking place," he said.
But Raven confirmed to WND the seven Christians did not approach a single person, did not speak to anyone and did not even make any audible statements until after they were arrested.
Pastor Holick's case in Wichita was even more drastic. He had gone, with a team from his church, to pass out flyers and pray at a recent "pride" festival held there.
He had checked with the police department and was told, "The sidewalk is your friend."
"Upon arriving we began to set up," he said. "Immediately, I was approached by WPD and told that we could not go into the park (a public park mind you where everyone else – except the Christians – was allowed in) and that we could not be on the sidewalk on that side of the street but that we could go to the other side of the street.
"In other words, one side of the street is open to Christians but the public park and the public sidewalk next to the park is not," he said.
But then Holick was arrested within about four minutes of his arrival.
"It is obvious that the WPD did not keep their word and that they wanted to arrest as quickly as possible. The First Amendment … was cast aside like so much garbage," he said.
"The sin is 'coming out' further and further and the church is now being pushed further and further back inside the four walls of the church building; we are the ones that are seen as 'the trouble makers.' The police arrest the Christians and allow all manner of perversion to flaunt itself in the streets of Wichita. And we the church … well … I'm not sure we care," he said.
Police alleged that they asked Holick five times to "leave" the festival, even though he never purchased the required admission fee or went in.
As WND reported , Holick already had been targeted by the Internal Revenue Service for the moral statements he posted on the church's sign.
The notice he got from the IRS warned him about putting his Christian beliefs on the sign, and he responded that he would continue to preach the Word of God.
Just a week earlier, WND reported police in St. Petersburg, Fla., arrested five Christians for carrying signs "wider than their torsos" outside an officially designated protest area at that city's homosexual festival.
Pastor Billy Ball, Assistant Pastor Doug Pitts, Frankie Primavera and Josh Pettigrew, all of Faith Baptist Church in Primrose, Ga., were arrested after leaving a small area set aside by city officials for protest activities. Bill Holt, of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Jefferson, Ga., was also taken into custody.
According to Lighthouse Pastor Kevin Whitman, the five men were told by police their signs were not allowed outside the protest area because they were wider than their torsos. When the men refused to put them away, they were arrested for violating a controversial city ordinance that governs permitted events.
As WND reported, St. Petersburg officials, following disturbances at a previous homosexual pride festival, implemented rules governing outdoor events that set aside "free speech zones," where protesters are allowed.
The resulting ordinance came under fire by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Alliance Defense Fund for being too broad. It allows the city to create prior restraints of speech on an event-by-event basis, with virtually no predictable limits. It also criminalizes certain free speech behavior around public events and authorizes the police to enforce breaches of permits – the penalty for such breaches being arrest.
Permit denied! None shall challenge Big Sodomy!
Need to sue their butts off...
How do you know that’s what happened here ? Did the gays pull a permit for their little parade ?
It appears the Christians didn’t pull a permit and ventured where they were not supposed to be . They were removed and arrested, probably for their own protection and to keep the peace .
They have freedom of speech, but they do not have the freedom to incite .
I’m not sure why the Christian group doesn’t pull a permit and have their own parade or prayer gathering . If they get denied a permit, they then have grounds for a lawsuit . It’s that simple .
The only inciting this group did was to show up with their bibles. Homosexuals are so sick they can't take the littlest bit of criticism. They want to invoke hate speech laws to stop the religious freedom of speech.
When is the last time you , me , or anyone else on this thread went to one of these sodomy fests to pray or witness? or how about abortion clinics? or for that matter witnessed of Jesus Christ to anyone?
We lost on abortion and we are going to lose this too if the Christians continue to sit on the sidelines and Monday morning quarterback. We are commanded to be salt and light. Salt isn’t very salty if it stays in the salt shaker.
But that would be common sense, and we couldn’t have a long thread about a WND article full of hyperbole, angst, and panic!
To keep the peace? What you’re saying is that the sight of Christians praying might cause the homosexuals to lose control of themselves and attack the Christians.
OK, how about just enforcing the law - in other words, if any of the homosexuals attack anyone, cart THEM off to jail. But oh, no...the cowardly cops find it much easier to abuse the people who will turn the other cheek.
It seems like no one remembers the Philly 11. They won!
Exercising one's right to free speech and expression is not an example of inciting anything. There is evidence these Christians got in anyone's face and harassed them.
It's disgusting people are making excuses for the suppression of basic Constitutional rights.
You never know what could happen when you have two opposing groups. I’m sure the Christians were outnumbered and they very well could have been attacked . The job of the police is to make sure that the two opposing groups do not intermingle, thus preventing violence . It appears that the Christians did not obey the law and were arrested for it .
Keeping the peace is the goal of law enforcement whenever there is a politically oriented parade/demonstration . No matter how unpopular, or whether they agree with it or not, the police have a specific duty. I seriously doubt persecuting Christians is what the police were doing, as that vague article would have you believe .
There is no evidence that they didn’t harrass anyone either . This article is quite vague and appears to be trying to elicit a kneejerk response given the headline . This article is leaving out too many details to say whether anyone’s rights were denied .
I would never support the suppression of anybody’s free speech rights , and it appears that the Christians were told they could stay in a certain area and pray . It also appears that they did not stay in their designated area and were arrested for it .
Given the vitriolic tone of some of the homo parades , I would say that they would be delighted to see some Christians carted off . These prayer warriors need to work within the system and constraints of the law to be truly effective .
Maybe they should hide their Bibles and meet in a cellar somewhere.
I don’t believe that , do you ?
What did Jesus tell you was going to happen to you if you followed Him?
If you are not expecting to be crucified upside down in Rome, I'm not sure you are really tuned in to the message.
No, brother, you should pray publicly, and often.
But you should read John 15:18-25, and not act so surprised when the Master's words come true.
"The second such case arose in Wichita, Kan., where police arrested Spirit One Christian Center Pastor Mark Holick, who had received permission earlier from officers to be on the public sidewalk adjacent to the park where the festival was occurring but then was arrested doing exactly that."
Just a week earlier, WND reported police in St. Petersburg, Fla., arrested five Christians for carrying signs "wider than their torsos" outside an officially designated protest area at that city's homosexual festival.
They are coming after the Christians. I fear it may get worse. I believe at some point we will no longer be able to speak out against it in our churches, read aloud from our bibles, and avoid having it taught to children. That's already being done in other countries. It's all beginning here. Jesus said that if we pick up our cross and follow him, we will be persecuted. I see that in our future, especially if the Dems get control in 2008. We must not back down to the PC, tolerance, diversity crowd. We must stand up, and make our voices heard.
First Amendment for only the favored!
That’s right. Do you think the gays would stay in a designated area - or would they defiantly and proudly march out wherever they pleased?
And the cops wouldn’t dare arrest them if they did. Even if they were arrested, the ACLU, SPLC, Rainbow Coalition and many other taxpayer-funded legal eagles would be on speed-dial to come kick up a ruckus in the media.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.