SUE THE PROSECUTOR AND THE STATE
By: Devvy
December 18, 2004
"Whereas the glory of Almighty God and the good of mankind is the reason and the end of government, and, therefore government itself is a venerable ordinance of God...[there shall be established] laws as shall best preserve true Christian and civil liberty, in opposition to all unchristian, licentious, and unjust practices, whereby God may have his due, and Caesar his due, and the people their due, from tyranny and oppression." The Great Law of Pennsylvania April 25, 1682, was the first legislative act of Pennsylvania.
'The City of Brotherly Love' Turns on Bible Believers?
On October 10, 2004 eleven individuals demonstrated at a homosexual event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Four of these Christians now face the wrath of a local prosecutor who appears to be completely ignorant of the law and the rights of these demonstrators. He also appears to be drowning in political correctness referring to Biblical scriptures as "fighting words." These individuals range in age from 17 - 72. The event was dubbed 'Coming Out Day Outfest' and hosted by homosexuals who call themselves "Pink Angels."
The facts as they are known: These Christian protesters were told by a Philly police officer who was there that they could stay because they were on a public sidewalk and therefore, movement throughout the event was lawful. A short time later, they were rounded up like criminals. According to Michael Marcavage, founder of Repent America who led the event, videotapes of the arrests clearly shows the "Pink Angels" disrupting the event, not the other way around. None of the homosexual "Pink Angels" were arrested, only the Christians.
The charges against four of these protesters are criminal conspiracy, possession of instruments of crime, reckless endangerment of another person, ethnic intimidation, riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways. Three felonies, five misdemeanors and possible jail time of 47 years. The "ethnic intimidation" charge comes out of Pennsylvania's so-called "hate crimes" law which added a new "victim" category for "sexual orientation."
Judge William Austin Meehan presided over the preliminary hearing this week in Philly's Municipal Court. I think this statement best sums it up: "First, symbols of Christianity are removed from the public square; now, Christians are facing 47 years in prison because they preached the gospel in the public square. Stalin would be proud," said Brian Fahling, American Family Association Center for Law and Policy senior trial attorney.
In this bizarre demonstration of open hatred and bigotry against Christians in this country, the Philadelphia city prosecutor, Charles Ehrlich, went so far as to verbally attack the defendants as "hateful." Judge Meehan agreed. Shame, shame on him. These aren't "public servants," they are public serpents and petty little bureaucrats who think they're running some sort of Inquisition. Denounce God and we'll throw you in jail quickly instead of just bankrupting you and then throw you in prison! My, how things have changed:
"Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian." United States Supreme Court 1892, Church of the Holy Trinity v United States
Instead, what we now have are Godless bigots running government at all levels. James Madison, known as the Father of the U.S. Constitution said, "Religion [is] the basis and Foundation of Government". June 20, 1785. He also wrote, "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
The Pennsylvania State Constitution opens with: WE, the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance, do ordain and establish this Constitution.
Section 3 deals with Religious Freedom:
"All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship or to maintain any ministry against his consent; no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship."
The prosecutor here, Charles Ehrlich, is violating the constitutional rights of these defendants. Their conscience dictates that they go forth to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and educate others that God has commanded sodomy violates His law and in fact, plainly states that men or women who engage in sex with the same gender are performing an abomination. Maybe the prosecutor should charge God with a "hate" crime? We all know the why and what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Maybe the prosecutor should charge God with inciting a riot?
If I were one of these defendants, I would have already slapped the prosecutor and the state with a civil rights case for violating my rights. I would also charge them with a hate crime: bigotry against their religious beliefs. I couldn't find anything about recalling judges, district attorneys or prosecutors in the Pennsylvania State Constitution, but I hope the people in the Philadelphia area remember this whole putrid episode when Judge Meehan and Charles Ehrlich come up for reelection.
As for this mentally ill prosecutor charging that Biblical scripture is "fighting words," I guess what he's saying is that anyone who reads the Bible or utters passages from it, pulpit to the sidewalk, should now be charged with inciting a riot or a "hate crime." The question of carrying signs while protesting that denounce sodomy are constitutional. One case the defendants might look at is Cannon v City and County of Denver, United States Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit, July 12, 1993, in favor of two women picketing near an abortion mill:
"We are convinced that here the message on the signs did not amount to fighting words under the Supreme Court's standards....Furthermore they played an important role in the exposition of ideas. We hold therefore that the rights of the protesters to picket on the public sidewalks in front of the clinic with signs was a clearly established constitutional right at the time of the 1998 arrests in question."
Hate crime laws must be wiped off the books
As far as these so-called "hate crimes" laws, they are nothing but knee jerk reactions by politicians to please their cash paying customers who help get them get elected. If I were a defendant, I would file suit challenging Pennsylvania's "hate crime" laws, the same as was successfully done in Georgia this past October. As James B. Jacobs and Kimberly Potter so concisely and articulately state in their book, Hate Crimes: Criminal Law & Identity Politics, hate crimes is a "socio-legal category which represents the elaboration of an identity politics now manifesting itself in many areas of the law." I highly recommend every American - especially the defendants in this case and their lawyers - read this book.
The First Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." KKK wackos are allowed to stand on the public sidewalk and spew their stupidity. Religious bigots are allowed to stand in the public square and declare their stupidity. But, Christians exercising their First Amendment right to carry banners proclaiming the word of God - which the prosecutor has labeled "instruments of crime" - result in their arrest and serious criminal charges brought against them. Something is very wrong here and it's about time the people stood up and said, NO MORE.
Sexual "orientation" is just word games
The issue of "sexual orientation" is just another bogus play on words implemented by the homosexual/lesbian crowd back in 1992 when they were losing the Amendment 2 battle in the State of Colorado. Once it was pointed out to the voters that this politically favored group preferred (as in "sexual preference") to practice such perverted and toxic sex acts, the so-called leadership of the homosexual/lesbian lobby switched from "sexual preference" to "sexual orientation" and that is how the newly minted "sexual orientation" came about.
We are once again back to whether or not a group of individuals who choose to perform certain sex acts should have special rights. As I have pointed out in numerous columns, there isn't a scintilla of credible evidence that homosexuals and lesbians are genetically predisposed in any sense of the scientific world towards their behavior. Including 'sexual orientation' into these politically motivated "hate crime" laws is just another layer of protecting a class of people who aren't entitled to any special rights.
Where are the churches?
Where is the outrage from churches in this country? The silence is just as deafening as it was when the Bush Administration allowed the gangsters in the IRS to shut down the Indianapolis Baptist Temple several years ago. Every pastor and minister within a thousand miles should be taking up a collection for these defendants to pay their attorneys and taking themselves to Philly to protest on behalf of these Godly individuals. Pastors, ministers and Catholic priests should be surrounding the prosecutors office demanding that all charges be dropped against these Americans who have dared to exercise their First Amendment rights.
Where are these men of the cloth when this kind of attack against God and Christianity is going on? Have they become so subservient and cowardly to the federal government because they're all 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations that they prize their tax exempt status more than they do defending the righteous?
Is it any wonder Americans are so spiritually starved in this country they have abandoned the churches by the millions? Is it any wonder so many Americans gag at these so-called "evangelical religious leaders" who think more of the expensive suit they don every Sunday morning for their television extravaganzas than finding the courage to stand up to tyrannical government at every level?
It doesn't surprise me and that's why I wrote my Where Have All the Men Gone column two and a half years ago. Where have all the men gone that they will not stand up and defend those whose only crime is spreading the word of God and trying to help those who have adopted the homosexual death style to turn away from it before they kill themselves and others with their immoral behavior? My advice to ministers and pastors in this country: Don't be surprised if one day you become the victim of some trumped up government charge to crush your First Amendment rights and no one shows up to help or stand by your side.
As Mel Gibson said in the movie, The Patriot, one day the war will come to your front door.
© 2004 Devvy
Kidd - All Rights Reserved
Devvy Kidd authored the booklets, Why A Bankrupt America and Blind Loyalty, which sold close to 2,000,000 copies. Has been a guest more than 1600 times on radio shows, ran for Congress twice and is a highly sought after public speaker. Devvy is a contributing writer for www.NewsWithViews.com Devvy's web site is: www.devvy.com; is sponsored by El Dorado Gold; e-mail is: [email protected]