A Troubling Video

As I watched this video it troubled me.

www.youtube.com...

Even though I believe what Jesus said about evangelizing, I would not have done what these guys did. There is a time and a place for everything.
That's not the point.
It was how fast the police and how many jumped to the defense of the Muslims, no complaint was even issued. And they were told essentially there was a 5 block protection zone.

My concern is the constitutional rights of these Americans was violated.

Opinions?

I thought it was odd how fast the cops showed up and how many there were. I had wondered if they had prior knowledge of them being there or something. Maybe they said that in video but I dont remember. Either way, their rights were violated, in my opinion

Although i'm not religious at all, this is ridiculous, S&F for you. Where exactly is this at?


edit to add: Never mind I know where it's at, this violates the constitution!

[edit on 13-7-2010 by XxRagingxPandaxX]

David Wood is a liar, a known troublemaker (was even in jail for beating his father), and he tried to disrupt the festival the year before and was warned to not try again.
He did it again and was handcuffed.

It is of course all nice and dandy when you view it from his (edited) perspective.

Tell that to his father.


[edit on 7/13/2010 by skajkingdom]

reply to post by skajkingdom
wheres your proof? I'm not just gonna take your word for it.

I am pretty sure that American's would not want a socialist, communist or fascist booth setup outside of their 4th of July festival.

Having said that, there is a time and a place to evangelize (the true method) and this does not seem appropriate. In fact, it seems like a counter-productive exercise.

Why aren't these guys filming themselves down at the Buddhist temple or the synagogue?

Originally posted by XxRagingxPandaxX
reply to post by skajkingdom

 

wheres your proof? I'm not just gonna take your word for it.

Seekethe interwebs. He was arrested on attempted murder for beating up his father with a ball peen hammer.
Ex atheist now "born again".

One must note that the authorities were non-violent while quelling any minority dissent.
The area outside the 5 block radius of the festival is still vastly larger than the area where free speech is not permitted.
That point is moot, however, considering that the entirety of Michigan lies within the Constitution free zone introduced by the Patriot Act.
Probably no cause for concern.

I watched the video tapes, and there are more questions, than answers. If it was all uneditied, from the time they got there, to the very point of where they were arrested, then a decision could be reached.
There were other videos that banter back and forth in the entire question, from them and the muslim community that pretty much leaves doubts in my mind as to what the people were doing there and for what purpose, as well as the claim that there was a person preaching. Based off of all of the videos that I have seen, I would say the following:
1) There are questions that they did not ask, that should have been asked of the representative of the muslim community, that would have caught them off guard. But they failed to do such in a manor to get them to answer, including the camera, which most do not want to be video taped without permission. I know I don't want to be video taped.
2) Both sides are lieing about what was going on.
3) The people going there to hand out the pamphlets to those who were of the Muslim faith, were looking to cause some form of conflict in that community.
4) I believe they went in first, and were asked to leave, then the police were called, as they were causing problems in the fair.
There is a time and a place for all things, and I believe that was neither the time or the place for such a question or discussion on such, or do deal with such in that way.

If propriety is the issue ,when I see the Westboro Baptist Church gathered up by authorities outside of a military funeral, I'll feel there is no double standard.

reply to post by skajkingdom


I have no stake in this man's agenda, per se, but please don't lob these ad hominem attacks without documentation...Hell, don't lob ad hominem attacks at all, the facts of his civil rights violations have nothing to do with this man being a douche or whatever. Even douches retain their civil rights in America (except in Dearborn, apparently!)

The most effective solution to problems like this is law officers who understand the law and their duty to preserve everyone's rights, not just the minority of the day.
Good people in Law Enforcement must try to educate their peers~IMO change from within is the best and quickest way.

Originally posted by 23refugee
If propriety is the issue ,when I see the Westboro Baptist Church gathered up by authorities outside of a military funeral, I'll feel there is no double standard.

I agree, but just as this guy here might get a beat down for his free speech, so goes the Westboro baptist church.
With rights of free speech comes the responsibilities of the words and actions you put out there. You are not protected from the repercussions! (Well, from violence you are, technically, if a cop sees it.

...unless you live in Oakland, in which case you can be protected after sending an email to police regarding the crime! lol)

reply to post by blamethegreys


We're in agreement, but any repercussions , especially assualt, are criminal actions by another citizen. When a number of officers clearly sufficient to handle the situation pre-emptively remove a small number for their "safety", that minority is silenced.
People like these proselytize on the street outside of gay pride functions constantly. Never seen them removed to a distance of five blocks. At the most, officers accompany them to prevent assualt.
Double standard.

It seems this Christian group was going to predominantly Arab event, and with Muslims in attendance, to purposely shake a stick at a hornets nest? It was called "Arab Fest," and no doubt there were Arab Christians among the festival goers as well. Furthermore, I am not seeing any indication of this event being a religious festival? It seems to be a festival celebrating the culture and ethnicity of that part of the world and the large Arab population in Dearborn Michigan.

I saw more videos from this event, and I saw Muslims with booths set up and displays. It was taken in 2009.



Why did this group not contact the event organizers to set up a booth of their own where people can go to attain information and brochures about their religion? The first video in the OP may have been deliberately put together and taken out of context to ratchet up the condemnation felt by many Americans toward Arabs and Muslims?

It seemed this group of evangelicals were stopping people and force feeding them their religious message? The people were there to enjoy the festivities like the food and carnival rides. If I was attending, it would have upset me if someone pulled me aside and away from my business to force feed a religious message. In relation to the video posted in the OP, we have no idea if the group had set foot in the event in a fashion as they did a year earlier and the police were just responding to complaints?

Personally, I think David Wood and his followers were going out of their way to single out a particular religious group and worked over time to put on the facade of being martyrs by people at the festival. The people did not want to be taped but they kept taping after being asked to stop. Some people have a problem with being taped and photographed. They could have walked away but they joined in with the commotion by further fanning the flames of anger.

Now, if the festival organizers let only Muslims set up booths for religious information and not the Christians, then Mr. Wood and his group have something to contact an attorney about. However, the way I saw them conducting their activities, it seemed over blown and out of context given the secular nature of the event. They turned it into a Constitutional debate and religious free for all.

This event as far as I am concerned is no different than festivals held by the Irish on St. Patrick's Day or other ethnic groups celebrating their culture and backgrounds. Sorry Mr. Wood, I am not buying your theatrics or the overblown condemnation of Dearborn, Michigan and the Police Department championing Sharia Law. They were agitators who were out to seek condemnation for Muslims by non Muslims and members of their religious sects. That was the agenda, not a Constitutional debate or teaching people about Christianity. Just some hoodlums who claim to be Christians out looking for a fight while playing the sympathy card. Do they want some cheese with their wine. Just to be fair, all organized religions partake in this nonsense.

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Jakes51]

reply to post by 23refugee


Ah, sorry, I see where I went sideways. Yep, we are in agreement 100%. The bit about violence just bubbled up at the reference of that church!

Be interesting to see what would happen if they ventured into certain areas of Iraq, Palestine, and Afghanistan with their cameras rolling distributing the gospel of John
You think getting a little shove and hand block of your video cam is bad

reply to post by superluminal11


Considering the large amount of evangelical Christians within the American military, in at least two of those countries that scenario is not likely to play out the way you think it would.

Clearly what they should have done is had a large number of people lying in wait and when the cops started to take action then the Christian mob should have showed up and started a riot.

What are the cops going to say. Christians Rioting??? They would have been laughed out of court. And dragging bleeding Christians to jail or a crowd of cops swinging nightsticks on a crowd of "peaceable" Christians would have been front page news all over the country.

Perhaps the Christians should start getting more militant. And standing up for their constitutional rights of free speech.