Say Anything Blog

So, these Christians claim their rights were “trumped.” Well, it would seem clear even to the casual observer that these Christians were making every attempt to “trump” the rights of those people who went through the process of obtaining a legal permit to have a public event. The Christians were there to protest, and the very purpose of that is to detract from those people their right to gather publicly and exercise their First Amendment rights which include “the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” Whereas the Christians were there to purposely disrupt that assembly. That would be the meaning of “protest” would it not?

There is a purpose to obtaining a permit for an event and that is to ensure First Amendment rights of those who do so. Were it legal for anyone to simply be in the street and do whatever they like, wherever they like and whenever they like, first there would be chaos in the streets, and second there would be no point in having a public event, including a Christian one for the vast numbers of people who would show up with the express purpose of disrupting that event.

Now I could see where the Christians would have a valid complaint should they have been the permit holders, a freedom they exercise when it suits them, and some other group chose to protest them. Or I could see their complaint should they have been denied a permit, which they have an equal right to obtain. Then they would be the first running to the courts crying fro protection

It is entirely self-serving to even state that anyone’s First Amendment rights were violated, let alone the rights of those who were present to disrupt the expression of those same rights of others. At no time were these Christians told they were not allowed to express their opinions, only that they were not permitted to do so at the expense of, or to the detriment of the opinions of others.

This whole article has nothing to do with freedom, but with your intolerance of others, and that you were prevented from expressing it in their face. You think they do not know how you feel about them? You just wanted to shout in someone’s face. That you think this issue makes the US sound like Soviet Russia only further points out your total ignorance. In Soviet Russia you would not have had the freedom to BE a Christian, nor would you have had your case heard in court, you would simply disappear.

And might we not all be happier for it.

You should read the entire article, as you would discover these Christians were on the sidewalk, not on the grounds where the event was taking place. That means they needed no permit to engage in free political speech. You will also discover they were not being disruptive at all and followed every direction of the police peaceably.

Next, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit did say that it “support[ed] the rights of Christians to speak in the public square. In its decision, the appeals court [also] rejected U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence F. Stengel’s decision from earlier this year in which he ruled that the Philadelphia 11 should have been prohibited from engaging in their constitutional rights on the public streets and sidewalks,: in other words the appeals court said these Christians were within their rights to engage in opposing political speech on the sidewalk.

Further, you nicely ignored the fact that the local court stated that homosexual First Amendment rights were of greater value than the First Amendment rights of Christians. But, of course you agree with that don’t you?

This whole article has nothing to do with freedom, but with your intolerance of others, and that you were prevented from expressing it in their face.

A) I was not personally involved. B) It was a violation of the First Amendment to prohibit people outside the event, on the public sidewalks from expressing their opposing political views. C) Your side was wholly intolerant of any speech but their own. By the way for your education the word toleration came into being to permit other people of faith in Europe to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience, which has now been highjacked by the Left and the Homosexual Community to demand that everyone not only tolerate their perverse lifestyle choices, but demand they not be allowed to speak out against it, under criminal law.

In Soviet Russia you would not have had the freedom to BE a Christian, nor would you have had your case heard in court, you would simply disappear.

Nor would you be allowed to sodomize other guys, they would send you to prison or kill you, as would any Muslim nation! It reminds me of the Soviet Union in that they did not permit any free political speech and especially speech that opposed their atheist belief system. That was the context!

No matter the age or state of health, for a military man it is always glorious to tilt at windmills, rescue a fair Dulcinea and be a gallant knight in armor in a glorious cause.