Here's a little fun for the Friday fishwrap: a Bible-thumper finds a captive audience of people waiting in line outside a government office and starts reading the Bible in a loud voice. He refuses to leave when asked, and is arrested a few minutes later by the California Highway Patrol.
What happens next? Why, the video goes viral on YouTube of course!
I don't know about you, but I don't want to be preached at by a religious fanatic when I have to do business with my government. If a preacher is shouting on a street corner, I can just walk on by. But if I have to stand in line for an hour, does that give another citizen the right to force his religious ideas on me for that hour? Remember, this isn't optional. This is the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The government requires Californians to visit the DMV office from time to time. Most of the people in that line had no choice.
This sort of Christianity should embarrass all civilized Americans, Christian or otherwise. Is Christianity so unappealing that it has to be force-fed to unwilling, captive victims? Does spreading the gospel require one to accost unwilling listeners? I'd be ashamed if my religion was so poor that I had to resort to this sort of trick.
By the way, this was obviously staged. I know a bit about filmmaking, and this whole episode looks like it was made by a group of professionals who wanted to be arrested so they could go viral on YouTube. The fact that it was put together by "Advocates for Faith and Freedom," a group of radical evangelical Christian attorneys, should tell you what's behind this. It's not about freedom or even Christianity. It's about publicity.
Friday, May 6, 2011
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7 comments:
Dear readers -- I am no longer blogging and after leaving these blogs open for two years have finally stopped accepting comments due to spammers. Thanks for your interest. If you'd like to write to me, click on the "Contact" link at the top. Thanks! -- CJ.
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I had a boss when I was in the Navy that would preach to me while I was on watch and couldn't leave the shop so I was forced to listen. There wasn't anything I could do about it.
ReplyDeleteI hated it more because of his tactics than because of his religion. I don't mind religious people, just don't shove it down my throat please.
You only need to visit the DMV if you wish to preserve your privilege to operate a motor vehicle. As far as I know, no one is required by the government to go to the DMV. Even though practically everyone "needs" to visit because they want to operate a vehicle legally, I disagree with your point.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel we should celebrate a person being compelled to leave a place if we don't don't like what he's saying. Of course, he's being a jerk, but I don't know that he violated any laws. Is it a slippery slope?
I must agree partially with Michael. We do not have the right to not be offended. I say this to my students all the time. I am brutally honest with them (as much as I can be). We have certain rights as humans and more as Americans, but dealing with hyperactive myth peddlers is something we should be able to deal with.
ReplyDeleteMichael, you *are* required to go to the DMV if you want to operate a motor vehicle, which is your right unless you are prohibited from doing so by law.
ReplyDeleteIs religion so unpersuasive that it must be forced down the throats of a captive audience?
I don't know who expects to convert anyone by shouting the bible at strangers.
ReplyDeleteI'm rather familiar with the tactics of the so-called Advocates. Anything critical of any aspect of Christianity, gives rise to a lawsuit. Then the use the suit to pry money out of their mindless Bible thumping myrmidons. This case proves the point. On their website, the "pastor" was just reading the Bible and suffered discrimination by being forced to stop when the fact was that he was reading out loud to a captive audience.
ReplyDeletethe featured video is from hemet california, 2/2011. this morning, i was held captive with about 100 other people at the rancho cucamonga dmv while 2 BT's shoved the word of god down our throats for about 40 minutes. apalling? yes. annoying? doubly so. if i want to learn about the christian god, i will seek it out; having to ignore offensive ranting about how horrible i am (liar, adulterer, thief, covetor, unsaved, to name just a few) is not the way to sway me to your school of thought.
ReplyDeletefunny how they didn't want to talk about the christian pederasts, pedophiles, embezzlers, addicts, liars, adulterers and thieves that run their respective churches.
i realize that i don't have the right to "not be offended", but what happened this morning was more like harassment and hate speech.