Just in case you thought the Religious Right was all about freedom of religion....
Filed by: Alex Blaze
August 17, 2007 2:04 PM
From the Columbus Dispatch:
A conservative Christian values group has been interrupting services at two central Ohio churches to protest their support for homosexuality.
Minutemen United vowed to attend services every Sunday.[...]
[Rev. Kathy] Hurt said a man, who introduced himself as a minister from the New Beginnings Church in Warsaw, Ohio, started to give a sermon about how the church was acting against God's word by accepting homosexuals.
Members of Minutemen United also visited King Avenue United Methodist Church in Columbus that same morning, said the Rev. John Keeny.
"They rebuked me as a pastor for preaching that God's love is for everyone," Keeny said.
And that's not all....
One of the sermon crashers explained himself:
"There are people there who are truly hungry for the true word of God," Erwin said. "The word of God is the word of God. It is not subject to private interpretation."
He went on to clarify that private interpretation is OK as long as he agrees with it. Haha, just kidding, but wouldn't it be great if they were that honest?
These folks learned a thing or two from the GLF's zaps and are starting to use the technique themselves. Of course, it won't work because the technique is supposed to increase people's awareness of issues, not decrease it.
But this comes down to respect for people's religions, and the Religious Right always declares themselves on the side of religious freedom promulgating paranoid fantasies of police rounding up pastors after hate crimes legislations gets passed or school teachers locking away students with Bibles or whatever. But then when it comes to anyone who disagrees with them, suddenly the word "freedom" gets exposed for the window dressing that it is.
"It's one thing to have your opinions, but it's another thing to take it to the next level by crossing the threshold of a worshipping congregation," Ahrens said.
Did anyone think that this movement was actually about religious freedom?
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3 Comments
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As I have posted previously, in our current era the Religious Right is Enemy Number One to the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution ... and the story and quotes that Alex just posted here (Thank you, Alex!) form yet another supporting footnote to my main argument.
A. J. Lopp | August 17, 2007 3:22 PM
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I agree, Alan. But I'd put them up as Public Enemy Number 1. The twisted Taliban-like thinking of some of these groups is grossly disturbing.
As a gay man and former ACT UPer, I've participated in many protests and demonstrations - but I would never interrupt even the far right's religious services. It's just disrespectful! Even when we interrupted Advance America's Statehouse Rally for Discrimination, we didn't boo, hiss or chant during their prayer time...
But, you know, all of these folks think God is on their side. Which literally pits God vs God. I wonder who's God will win...
Bil Browning | August 18, 2007 9:00 AM
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Since CNN is ubiquitous in bars, workplaces and eateries (even McDonalds at Exit 16 on I-65 at 2 AM) I've been exposed to snippets of Christiane Amanpour's God's Warriors ... and, oh my God, often I can hardly watch it!!! Was it the cold greasy McDonalds french fries, or was it the segment on Rick Scarborough, that made my stomach feel like I had just eaten a 6-inch Hoosier field rock?
I have three messages for the Abrahamic religions:
Christians, disciples of Jesus, reject Fundamentalism! Let your faith grow beyond Fundamentalism!
Jews, children of Abraham, reject Fundamentalism! Let your faith grow beyond Fundamentalism!
Muslims, followers of Muhammad, reject Fundamentalism! Let your faith grow beyond Fundamentalism!
A. J. Lopp | August 24, 2007 12:49 PM
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