Eleven Christians Arrested

[ryane20]

repentamerica.com/pr_outfest.html

**ELEVEN CHRISTIANS ARRESTED, JAILED, AND CHARGED
UNDER HATE CRIMES LEGISLATION **10/11/04

PHILADELPHIA - On Sunday, October 10, 2004, eleven Christians with the Philadelphia-based Repent America were arrested, jailed, and charged under hate crimes legislation during an evangelistic outreach at the annual “OutFest” homosexual pride event held in the public streets of Philadelphia.

The six men and five women representing Repent America approached the event and were immediately confronted with unlawful opposition by a group of homosexuals. This group, the “Pink Angels”, was formed by homosexual attorney Chuck Volz, a senior adviser to Philly Pride Presents, organizers of the annual OutFest event which receives $22,500 yearly from the City of Philadelphia. The “Pink Angels” blocked access to Repent America by forming a human chain, refusing to allow the Christians to walk down the public sidewalk. Police intervened shortly thereafter, escorting Repent America through the human blockade.

While on the public sidewalk and street inside the event, Repent America began to open-air preach with the use of Scripture banners, and to distribute Gospel literature, as members of the “Pink Angels” blew loud whistles and carried large signs alongside the Christians to block their message and their access to the event attendees, while others screamed obscenities. The police refused to take action as the Christians were continuously followed, obstructed, and harassed.

Repent America obeyed all laws, and even the unlawful requests, to move by the Philadelphia Civil Affairs police officers in an effort of cooperation. Regardless of Repent America’s compliance, Chief James Tiano, head of the Civil Affairs Unit, without warning, ordered the arrests of the Christians and hauled them off to jail, where they spent 21 hours, before being released the following day. Ten Christians were individually charged with three felonies and five misdemeanors, while a teenager with the group was charged with a misdemeanor.

“This is one of the most remarkable and unlawful actions by police that I have ever witnessed. Their blatant disregard of the law by allowing hecklers to impede our way, block our message, and then arrest us, is inexcusable, especially by police officers who are specially trained to protect civil rights,” stated Michael Marcavage, director of Repent America. “Christians are now being labeled as ‘haters’ and any speech that homosexuals perceive to be intimidating, such as our Christian witness at OutFest, makes them a prime target for ‘hate crimes legislation’,” Marcavage continued.

The three felonies and five misdemeanors include: Criminal Conspiracy (Felony), Possession of Instruments of Crime (Misdemeanor), Reckless Endangerment of Another Person (Misdemeanor), Ethnic Intimidation (Felony), Riot (Felony), Failure to Disperse (Misdemeanor), Disorderly Conduct (Misdemeanor), and Obstructing Highways (Misdemeanor). “We are clearly ‘not guilty’ of these crimes, and with the help of our video footage, we shall be vindicated of these trumped up charges,” Marcavage concluded.

The Christians are scheduled to be arraigned on October 18, 2004 at 8:00AM in the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center.

 

[Edwin1961]

Just proves to show you that Christ even said that the end would happen when man will call evil as good and good as evil.

After reading the article, where is the instruments of crime as they are charged. God’s word is now an instrument of CRIME!
Give me a break!

However, they did intended to go to a knowingly ‘hostile’ environment. These Christians did not show Charity with Love in their message by thrusting it down the homosexual’s throats. These Christians intentions wee certainly good, but I believe they were Too extremely harsh in the way they went about it.

Go with God!
Edwin

 

[Jermosh]

When I was a AIDs Activist I used to run into some of the most evil hatred minded “Christians” I have ever met.

I remember this one time we had a group of them picketing a funeral of someone who died of AIDs. They sat out in front of the cemetery with signs saying " “Name of person” is now in Hell, better wake up!", “Got Aids Yet”, “You are going to Burn for eternity”, “God Hates you so much that He made AIDS just for you”. There were a few others as well that I forget.

This group was very active and would picket hospices, funerals, meetings, support groups, etc etc.

Some people really sit back and cannot fathom why GAY activist groups are so defensive and in your face. Seriously think about why they are this way, why they are so frontal. They are tired of being persecuted, bashed, and shunned from society. Do you wanna know why we now have SS marriage in Mass and it being challenged in every state and on the national level. This is why cnn.com/US/9810/12/wyoming.attack.01/index.html, the amount of anger that the Gay community got from this is immense.

We must act with utter charity and understanding to our brethren, no matter what they do. They will never get to know Christ if they feel persecuted and know only “Christians” as the group I mentioned. Who’s fault is that?

We are not condoning their lifestyles by treating them with dignity and respect.

Oh and by the way, the person in the funeral that was picketed was not Gay. He was a male nurse who accidentally got stuck while administering medicine, and he was also a husband, and father. Think of how his children felt when they saw people showing such hate towards their loving father.

Sorry for my rant, but I had it building and need to speak my mind.

Peace

Jermosh

 

[Les_Richardson]

And so it begins.

Jermosh,

I read the linked article. Don’t see a Christian reference.

The point of the article, aside from reporting the facts, is to suggest the need for “Hate Crimes Law.” We have that here in Canada, along with human rights tribunals.
The gay lobby is powerful, being populated by some very well educated and highly placed people.

The result is predictable. A recent case is a prime example, a Christian printer who refused to print material that promoted the gay life-style. He has been fighting against the human rights law since. I can look up the details and link it if you are interested.

The point is, whether justified or not, (and those “Christians” who picketed the funeral were not representing Jesus Christ) the gay lobby/movement has immense power and are not satisfied with “live and let live” in our society. They will be satisfied with nothing less than the complete indoctrination of all children, on the moral question primarily, and the complete capitulation of the Church. That you can put money on. And they will stop at nothing to achieve their aims.

As to Hate Crimes laws, they go against all legal tradition, ours here and America’s, that derive from English common law. The proper object of any law is an action or activity. That is what is sanctioned. Political, religious or racial hatred go to motivation in establishing guilt and/or sentencing in the court. But thoughts and beliefs are not, or up until now have not been the subject of law in a free society. They have been and are matters for law enforcement to take note of and monitor, for the purpose of pre-emption or investigation of crime. But thoughts are not crimes.

One significant aberration from that principle was the activity of the now infamous Senator McCarthy. It is also the principle upon most criticism of the Homeland Security law now in force.

Whether or not we act with charity may be moot at some point, when it comes down to defending our faith, against attempts to force us to renounce it.
*“It was not by **the testimony of witnesses that the crime was proved, but by the **criminal’s own refusal to deny it. None sought to convict him, **often indeed the magistrate by promises, by threats, by violence **sought to prevent his conviction. The law strained every nerve **that the criminal might escape the awful penalty which the same **law declared to be his just desert. The whole machinery of justice **was employed to force, not an admission of guilt, but a denial. In **the acta of the trials of St. Polycarp (155), of St. Justin (165), **of the martyrs of Lyons (177), of Scillium (180), and of others of **this century, the whole process can be read in detail.”*From Philip Hughes History of the Church (Chapter 6, #1) describing the Roman persecution of Christians under Trajan.

 

[Jermosh]

Les,
The article that I linked to had nothin to do with hate crimes. It had to do with Hate, and the Gay community is tired of being Hated.
Peace
Jermosh

 

[Les_Richardson]

Jermosh:

Les,
The article that I linked to had nothin to do with hate crimes. It had to do with Hate, and the Gay community is tired of being Hated.
Peace
Jermosh

Guess I was looking at the CNN poll in the very centre of the article. “Should Congress pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.”

Be that as it may, let me ask you a question. Do you really think that is the extent of it? That was the general public statement several years ago from the gay community. It has gone far beyond that now.

If you look at history, in various societies, by times, homosexuals were routinely killed as a matter of policy. As we have become more civilized we have, as a matter of policy, protected the life and civil liberties, under the law, of homosexuals. The act that the story describes is the act of two young men and their girlfriends as accessories. If and when a homosexual is deliberately killed, it is murder, just as it is if a heterosexual is killed. Likewise, it is assault if a homosexual is beaten up, and so forth. That is, there is equal treatment under the law.

If the gay community is tired of being hated, in 2004, would it not be rational to ask if trying to redefine the sacred institution of marriage, as an example, is perhaps not conducive to being liked? Or commandeering the agenda in public schools to teach that homosexuality is a “normal” lifestyle alternative a good way to be liked, particularly by those whose faith teaches the opposite? Furthermore, when does tolerance require affection?

If you don’t want to see it, fine, but there is an agenda that goes far beyond “live and let live”. That is obvious in cases where the same-sex marriage question is under debate and the gay advocates want no part of a civil union solution whereby the desired objectives (so stated) are met, ie. spousal benefits, hospital visitation, beneficiary of an estate, etc.

The goal, rather, is the redefinition of marriage, with full knowledge of the meaning of that union to most religious people, and the sacramental character of marriage for Catholics in particular. It is a direct frontal assault on Christianity specifically. Why? Because, as you will no doubt be aware, Christian teaching, read Catholic teaching, has always been, and always will be, that the practice of homosexual sex is morally disordered and a grave sin.

The distinction may be lost on some people, who might want to hijack the name Christian, but Christianity does not teach hatred against the homosexual. Quite the opposite. But like many areas of life in our society, Catholic moral teaching requires a high standard to be strived for. It is not only homosexuals that are required to hold their desires in check to be Catholic. That is the entire engine behind the debate about freedom of conscience in North America and the willful disregard of Humanae Vitae. It is really a case of “I don’t want to live as the Church teaches but I still want the blessing of God.”

Ultimately, the homosexual who tilts against the moral teaching of the Church actually desires that God sanction his lifestyle/sexual activity. One way to get at that is to break-down the hetero-exclusivity of marriage.

It may come as a surprise as well, but it is not necessary to “like” someone to show them the love of God. Some people have a visceral reaction to homosexuals, knowing what they do in their spare time. And for those who say, “that’s not all of who we are”, give it a rest already. The very definition of a homosexual is a sexual one. It is the substance of the difference, inextricably.

You must also remember that much of the society we live in does not claim to be Christian at all.

 

[Jermosh]

Les,
There is a differant level meaning when someone is killed for hate, otherwise why do we look so high to martyrs? They were killed specifically for being Christian, and we reconise and feel the pain for that and place them as heros in our heart. This is the same exact case of this case in Wyoming that I gave the link to. He was hated because of his homosexuality, if that was a Catholic being beat and murdered for being a Catholic he would be a saint right now.

As you may know, there is allot of intrinsic evils in our society. Its a grave sin to worship a animal figure as a god, or to have sex outside of marriage. But yet they are allowed in our society and even encouraged. Or should we illegalize hinduism, or wiccan.
The point is till not to long ago, homosexual acts were illegal in some states, and most on this board are perfectly fine making it illegal again, so the extremities are on both sides.

I also fail to see how the whole phenomina even bothers you. If you are living right and to the scripture, how is it even affecting you. I mean Jesus spoke of this, he knew it was going to happen, why not listen to Him? You need to worry about your own weeds in YOUR garden and allot less of someone elses, and thru humility and charity quietly cut the weeds that creep over.

Peace
Jermosh

 

[Les_Richardson]

Jermosh:

Les,
There is a differant level meaning when someone is killed for hate, otherwise why do we look so high to martyrs? They were killed specifically for being Christian, and we reconise and feel the pain for that and place them as heros in our heart. This is the same exact case of this case in Wyoming that I gave the link to. He was hated because of his homosexuality, if that was a Catholic being beat and murdered for being a Catholic he would be a saint right now.

As you may know, there is allot of intrinsic evils in our society. Its a grave sin to worship a animal figure as a god, or to have sex outside of marriage. But yet they are allowed in our society and even encouraged. Or should we illegalize hinduism, or wiccan.
The point is till not to long ago, homosexual acts were illegal in some states, and most on this board are perfectly fine making it illegal again, so the extremities are on both sides.

I also fail to see how the whole phenomina even bothers you. If you are living right and to the scripture, how is it even affecting you. I mean Jesus spoke of this, he knew it was going to happen, why not listen to Him? You need to worry about your own weeds in YOUR garden and allot less of someone elses, and thru humility and charity quietly cut the weeds that creep over.

Peace
Jermosh

No Jermosh, I don’t accept the analogy. Christians were killed for hatred, yes, of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. They are heros because they died for Christ, not for anal sex. In Rome, the pagans, who had refined the art of debauchery were the ones who hated the Christians who held a very high sexual standard, preferring virginity and a life of chastity above all, but allowing for marriage (man and woman) but in the context of a sacrament or sacred act, not following their every desire and whim in whatever direction it might lead, like the pagans around them.
No, I do not equate faithfulness to God unto death with faithfulness to a disordered sexual lifestyle to death. If you do make a moral equivalence between the two, let me just say that it is highly offensive, and probably there is no common ground for this discussion.

Yes there are evils around us that are legal. If you watch the progression over the years you will notice a steady move in that direction, the legalization of much that once was illegal because of its moral disorder. That is a good thing? If you confuse freedom with license, perhaps. If you just sit back a moment and try to imagine something that is still evil and illegal, and then imagine it becoming legal, that is the future. The momentum is in that direction.

You also seem to miss the point that Christianity, the teachings of the Church and Jesus Christ do not condone murder. Period.

(Cont.)

 

[Les_Richardson]

Why does the phenomena bother me? Mind my own business yes? Well, here in Canada, in Ontario, at least, we have a judicial system that is massively overloaded and expensive. So recently the government decided that judges would henceforth no longer conduct weddings, only clergy. There is one gay church, of what denomination I am not certain, in Toronto, that has been marrying same-sex couples at a tremendous clip. However, despite assurances from the federal government, all the ducks are lined up, legally, for a human rights run at the Catholic Church and/or any other individual Church or denomination that refuses to marry a same-sex couple. It is only a question of time. Watch for it in the international news. There have been enough statements from the homosexual lobby that have been barely-veiled threats that the Church is in their sights. So as a Catholic, it is my business.

It seems, Jermosh, that you refuse to see or admit what I have pointed out previously, that there is no such thing as “live and let live” for the homosexual lobby. Just as in the days of Sodom, the men of the city wanted the “fresh meat”, the young men that had accompanied Lot to his house, the homosexual movement/lobby/community is not going to be satisfied until everyone, particularly Christians, bow to the golden phallus that has replaced the golden calf of Moses’ time.

Perhaps the persecution cannot be avoided. Some Christians here have received death threats and other kinds of threats involving their families, directly from homosexual activists. That for simply stating the Christian position.

The reality is that the situation 180 degrees from what you seem to think, despite the death of the young homosexual in Wyoming in 1998.

 

[Jermosh]

Les,

I could debate with you all day. But I am not here to fix your ignorance or paranoid feelings becuase that is what you are basically telling me. In the end I will pray for you have to have this burdon removed from your heart. You are looking at the world thru stained glasses, take them off once and awhile.
In the end I still feel you are not listening to the scripture. I think you are not remembering who is blessed for what, or how we are to treat those who want nothin of us.
Peace
Jermosh

 

[Les_Richardson]

Jermosh:

Les,

I could debate with you all day. But I am not here to fix your ignorance or paranoid feelings becuase that is what you are basically telling me. In the end I will pray for you have to have this burdon removed from your heart. You are looking at the world thru stained glasses, take them off once and awhile.
In the end I still feel you are not listening to the scripture. I think you are not remembering who is blessed for what, or how we are to treat those who want nothin of us.
Peace
Jermosh

I welcome your prayers, **Jermosh. **Sure, debate with me, fix my ignorance. Show me where I’m wrong. Show me that all is sweetness and light in the homosexual community and I am paranoid. The burden is not that heavy, Jermosh. My glasses are the glasses of history and human nature, whether stained or not. History repeats itself over and over.

I’ve worked with, in one place or another, and had the opportunity to get to know a number of homosexuals. As individuals, I got along great with each one, as I recall. One guy was overly effeminate, almost put on, you might say, but he was a nice guy once you got to know him. One of the best radio personalities/talk-show hosts ever, has got to be David Brudnoy, on WBZ in Boston. He, as you no doubt are aware is a professor, a homosexual, suffering and combatting the effects of AIDS and doing quite well, as far as I know. I’ve not heard him for awhile being on a different shift lately. I don’t know what you might think of his politics, he’s libertarian, but you ought to hear him talk about the gay lobby sometime. He has been there, and done that, and he is quite critical of their methods. These are not choir-boys. They are highly intelligent and have a fixed agenda. I disagree with Brudnoy on some of the issues but he has credibility as a very well educated, intelligent man with something of an inside track.

As to scripture, I welcome the chance to learn from scripture. You’ve mentioned it several times. To what scripture are you referring?

 

[martino]

Jermosh:

Les,
There is a differant level meaning when someone is killed for hate, otherwise why do we look so high to martyrs? They were killed specifically for being Christian, and we reconise and feel the pain for that and place them as heros in our heart. Jermosh

You are comparing people being killed (martyrs) with people having the Bible read in front of them!

 

[puzzleannie]

the problem with Hate Crimes legislation is that it gets into motive, which legally does not have to be proven in order to get a conviction. You are changing fundamental aspects of the justice process, and applying these changes selectively, which denies due process. Murder is murder, assault is assault, rape is rape, they are already fully and sufficiently defined in their degrees and penalties by state and federal statute. If a person is tried under HC laws, already a presumption of guilt and assumptions about the alleged crime and its motives have been planted in the mind of the jury before the trial even begins. They are a denial of due process and unconstitutional in this country.