M
Muzhik
Guest
It’s all about definitions. I have read analysis (sorry, can’t provide citations) that said that since churches allow anyone to come in without any proof of membership, then they legally count as “public spaces” and as such can’t claim any exemption that would allow sex-segregated restrooms.
If anyone thinks this is too outlandish to be a real possibility, consider the recent (within the last 6 months) case of Jake Gardener. He was the bar owner in Omaha during the “mostly peaceful protests” that were occurring there this summer. A group of “protesters” broke into his bar and started looting and vandalizing, then beat down Gardener’s 70-yo father. Gardener told them to back off, then lifted his shirt to show he was carrying a pistol (legally owned and registered) and repeated his demand that they back off, then pulled the pistol when they continued to advance on him. One of the “protesters”, James Scurlock, got behind Gardener, jumped on his back, and put a choke hold on him. (This is all on security video, BTW.) Gardener struggled for almost 20 seconds before putting his pistol in his other hand, reached behind him, and fatally shot Scurlock, the man trying to kill him.
Then the nightmares began. The DA, after reviewing security footage, declined to press charges, because it was a clear case of self-defense. The protesters began marching on the DA’s office “calling for justice”. The owner of his business’ building evicted him, shutting down his livelihood, and his landlord evicted Gardener from his house after the landlord was doxed and received death threats. Finally, after almost 3 months of protests and demands that Gardener be charged with Scurlock’s murder, a federal grand jury returned indictments against Gardener. The charges included manslaughter and making terroristic threats, i.e., since he had displayed his weapon while warning the crowd to “back down”, he was terrorizing the mob. On Sept. 20, the day he was to turn himself in to federal authorities, Gardener committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
So we have an apparent case of someone being killed in self-defense, where the intended victim is accused of terrorism in attempting to defend himself. In America, in Georgia, a student was penalized because after getting permission to speak about his Christian faith in one of his college’s two approved “Free Speech Zones”, was shut down by campus security because one student objected to the content of his speech. (Do a Google search on “Georgia Gwinnett College” and “Alliance Defending Freedom” for details.) Earlier this year, the Georgia legislature passed legislation banning such “Free Speech Zones” from Georgia’s public colleges, with protests that this will now enable hate speech, etc. Expect future court cases to state that allowing free speech willy-nilly around campuses is just plain wrong because someone might be hurt by the content of such speech.