Being AskedTo Not Block A Sidewalk Is Persecution-ComicCon

[debrand]

Our time at Comic Con on Saturday was amazing. It made an afternoon of evangelism on Hollywood Boulevard seem like a quiet afternoon at the park. I think we quite literally smacked a demonic hornet's nest with the gospel, which would account for the over-the-top heckling and blasphemy.

Mike Stockwell (shown above) was the first to preach. The crowds were huge and constantly changing. When Mike had finished preaching, a young Hispanic man approached him, shook Mike's hand, and thanked him for preaching the truth of God's Word. It was obvious to those of us who were there that this was a brother in Christ.

The young man then placed his hand on Mike's shoulder and began to pray. The rest of us quietly bowed our heads and joined him as he prayed for Mike and for the continued proclamation of the gospel.

When we finished praying, a San Diego Police officer approached us.

And this is what he said.

He told us that he did not want us doing any more "prayer circles" at the corner. He said we were blocking the sidewalk. He said if we wanted to pray we would have to "do it over there." He pointed to an area that was clearly private property belonging to either the convention center or the adjacent hotel.

We spent three hours on that corner preaching the gospel, distributing tracts, and engaging people in conversation. We even used amplification. None of which seemed to bother the officer, who was maintaining a position about twenty feet from where we stood.

The corner was packed with hundreds of people. It was veritable sea of humanity.

As you will notice in the above photo, we did not join hands or link arms to pray. People were free to walk in front of us, behind us, and through us for that matter. The young man who prayed was not loud--certainly not as loud as our preaching or as loud as the responding hecklers. With the cacophony of noise in the area, it was a challenge to hear him when just standing a couple feet away.

Mike and I tried to explain to the officer that we had not organized a "prayer circle," as he called it. What took place was spontaneous and initiated by a passerby. We also tried to explain to the officer that the corner was clearly in a constant state of congestion. People were moving from place to place, and people were standing still and talking on the sidewalk. We weren't "blocking" the sidewalk any more than anyone else. But the officer didn't want to hear it. Obviously, there was something about a group of Christians praying that bothered him.

In order to keep the peace and to make sure we could continue preaching, we chose not to argue further and assured the officer that we wouldn't organize any "prayer circles" on the sidewalk.

As I made the 150-mile drive home that night, I thought much about the encounter with the San Diego police officer. And I began to wonder.

Would the officer had told us we couldn't pray on the public sidewalk if we were Muslims?

Or what if we had been a group of Jews who decided to stop and pray at that corner, on a public sidewalk? Would the officer's reaction had been the same? Sadly, I think not.

Remember, we were not a group of Christian missionaries in North Korea, China, Afghanistan, Iran, or Iraq. We were a group of Christian U.S. citizens, on a public sidewalk in San Diego, CA.

And if you are a Christian reading this and think this is an isolated incident, you are spending too much time cloistered in churches, Sunday school classrooms, or home Bible studies. It's time you get out and see what's really happening to your Christian brethren in your country.

Opposition to Jesus Christ and His gospel is growing in the United States. It's not simply happening "over there." It's happening right here; right now.

Yes, we struck a demonic hornet's nest with the gospel, during our time at Comic Con. And we'll be going back, next year.

[FundiesInMyFamily]

Because nothing says "demonic hornet's nest" like Twilight fans and grown men in chewbacca costumes!! (love comicon!)

[MonkeyMomma]

I think we quite literally smacked a demonic hornet's nest with the gospel, which would account for the over-the-top heckling and blasphemy.

Or the fact that you were at ComicCon.

Step 1: know your audience.

[debrand]

onthebox.us/2011/07/maybe-if-we-had-been-muslim-or-jewish.html

The police officer did not ask them to stop praying, just to move across the street. How arrogant for them to say that people could just walk through them. Most of us would respect someone praying and try not to disturb them. But it would be nice if the politeness was returned and they quietly prayed in an area that other people don't have to push past them.

[debrand]

I just read the post before the first one and, I think , that it shows that the writer is a hyprocrite. Not only does his group want the police to step in and stop a man from quietly watching them but they heckle the man when he walks away. WHen the man returns, the writer reports being freaked out. Yet, these same people are outraged that they wouldn't be allowed to block the sidewalk.

Sometimes hecklers don't say a word. Sometimes they try to heckle or interrupt the preaching through intimidation. And one way they try to intimidate the preacher is by taking a position in close proximity him or her. This is what one many tried to do to my brother, Bill McCarty.

One of the benefits of conducting street evangelism with a team is that there is both physical and spiritual strength in numbers. Whenever someone tries to get too close to a brother or sister on the box, other members of the team simply form a human shield between the preacher and the heckler.

And that's what I tried to do for Bill when the man you will see in the video tried to intimidate him with his mere presence. Brothers Mike Stockwell and Steve Pivovaroff (both considerably larger men than me), were nearby. The man had a look in his eyes with which I have grown all-too-familiar, through twenty years of law enforcement and several years preaching the gospel on the streets. Evil. He was literally covered from head to toe in tattoos. One of his tattoos, located just below his lower lip, read: "Psalms." Every muscle in his body seemed tense, as if he was about to explode. And he did explode; but in a way I did not expect.

Here's what happened.

Learn from My Mistake

The hug and kiss from the heckler could have been avoided, but I made a tactical error. Instead of simply letting the heckler walk away, I called out to him and thanked him for stopping by. Yes, I was being sarcastic; and it was a fleshly moment. When the man turned around and started back, I extended my hand to shake his hand. He grabbed my hand, which gave him the tactical advantage over me. In a blink of an eye, he had his arms around me and planted a kiss on my cheek. The encounter could have turned out much worse. Much worse.

So learn from my mistake. If you have a potentially dangerous heckler in your midst and they choose to walk away, let them walk away. Don't fall into the trap of pride and arrogance as I did.

As a side note: there was a police officer standing about twenty feet away. He could clearly see the intensity of the moment, but he did nothing. In my next article, I will share with you how the officer, at a different moment of time, took police action. You're not going to believe this

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[tehgoobster]

Oh, for crying out loud! I swear, fundies can be such drama queens. :violin:

Not persecution: Being politely asked to move so you're not blocking a public sidewalk.

Persecution: Being dragged to jail for praying in public and then being ruthlessly beaten by your captors.

Why is that so hard for fundies to understand?

[UmmSqueakster]

One's right to free speech ends when it begins to impinge on the rights of others.

Several local groups rallied for Palestine a few weeks back in front of the hotel where an israeli lobbying group was meeting. We were told if we set one foot on the hotel's property, our protest would be done. Or if any of the guests complained about our loudspeaker, we'd be done. We were told not to block the sidewalk too.

OMGZDRSERSER! PersecutionASERT!@#@!@EQW#R

Um yeah no. Persecution is what my husband faces if he returns to Egypt. His mom is basically dying, and he can't go back, lest he risk being thrown in jail for his political rabble rousing online. Cry me a freakin river.

[TheJewAmongUs]

As I made the 150-mile drive home that night, I thought much about the encounter with the San Diego police officer. And I began to wonder.

Would the officer had told us we couldn't pray on the public sidewalk if we were Muslims?

Or what if we had been a group of Jews who decided to stop and pray at that corner, on a public sidewalk? Would the officer's reaction had been the same? Sadly, I think not.

Remember, we were not a group of Christian missionaries in North Korea, China, Afghanistan, Iran, or Iraq. We were a group of Christian U.S. citizens, on a public sidewalk in San Diego, CA.

If they were blocking the sidewalk where 130,000+ people were trying to cross the street, then yes, he would.

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure I know what corner they're talking about, and when I walked by there on Thursday I got poker chips for free pizza.

Free pizza > Continued proclamation of the gospel

[O Latin]

It does seem sort of odd that this police officer had no problem with them standing around "preaching" and handing out tracts all day, but then asked them to move if they wanted to pray. But then again, I have no idea what this corner looks like or how much space they were taking up. Maybe they really were blocking the sidewalk. Either way, I wouldn't call it persecution.

[clarinetpower]

That video was hilarious. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill (and the inability to read social cues.)

[lilwriter85]

I don't think a lot of Jews and Muslims do sidewalk praying.

These fundies are morons, I guess they didn't hear about what happened last year the WBC tried to picket Comic Con they got heckled back and a counter protest was formed. Also trying to preach at ComicCon to the people going inside isn't going to do anything or praying near the venue is going to instantly convert anyone. Many of those people go to Comic Con usually one to see a few booths or presentations. Some of the people going into Comic Con are Christians and overall I doubt anyone going into a Comic Con is a Satan worshipper. Living Waters said they plan to go back next year. I bet security will tighter around Comic Con and again they will cry "persecution". If Comic Con moves to different locations, I wonder if they will go to those locations and picket there.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Heh. Comments on the article about the guy who came up and kissed the preacher are interesting - not all favorable, and that seems to be pissing them off on the blog.

But yeah... it's Comic Con. No one cares about their preaching. There are plenty of comics with better narratives for sale inside the building.

Interesting you mention the WBC. I actually met them in San Diego - they were blocking the driveway of the house I was staying at, which happened to be a block in from the parade route for Gay Pride. I first noticed them because they were blocking the driveway and so someone scheduled to come pick me up could not get in. They were surrounded by police on horseback, who were there to protect THEM from the crowd, which was very heckling and laughing. At the time I had no real idea who they were, when I looked further into it I was horrified. Their signs were bad enough (they had their original "Thank God for AIDS" posters).

[JesusFightClub]

What a wanker, I can almost 100 PERCENT GUARANTEE that if a group of Muslims were blocking an entire corner of a pavement praying, someone would call it in to the coppers as a terrorist incident.

This guy needs to get a grip. People actually die and suffer terrible fates in life and he's moaning about this. I've had run ins with the police in the course of protesting and if they were as courteous as that he was bloody lucky.

I hate the sort of whiny persecution shit these bastards come out with. They really know fuck all about the real world.

ETA: apologies for rage. stuff like this is soooo annoying to me. When trying to do RW stuff and stay normal when bad things happen like most real people do, to see this sort of thing made into some kind of horror story is so stupid and unnecessary. And it gives me a great distaste for someone who would do that.

[debrand]

It does seem sort of odd that this police officer had no problem with them standing around "preaching" and handing out tracts all day, but then asked them to move if they wanted to pray. But then again, I have no idea what this corner looks like or how much space they were taking up. Maybe they really were blocking the sidewalk. Either way, I wouldn't call it persecution.

I would imagine that they were huddled together when they prayed, which would have blocked the sidewalk. It would have been so easy just to pray in a different formation but they want to be persecuted so badly that they can't wrap their minds around just taking up a slightly different position so that people can get by.

They really can't take what they dish out. They admit that they heckle people and use a loud speaker but if someone reacts in a similiar manner, they scream persecution or get frightened.

[debrand]

This is one of the conversation threads that I found somewhat amusing

Penny, the man approached within less than one foot of the speaker, who was balanced atop the box. He somewhat dramatically slid down his sunglasses to expose his eyes, which were obscured by contacts designed to effect a Hollywood-style demonic stare--whites with a dark, non-human pupil. He locked eyes with the speaker and maintained a fixed stare of obvious menace for what seemed like, and may have been, minutes. Whether or not he meant harm was impossible to say. But he clearly intended to convey the appearance of evil and harm. He wasn't there to hear, share, or express appreciation for the message. He was there to disrupt and intimidate. Reply

3 replies · active 18 hours ago +5 Vote up Vote down

Nelson Muntz · 1 day ago

Maybe the guy had the contacts in because he was at Comic-Con? But then that would mean the world doesn't revolve around you and your street harassment. Reply +1 Vote up Vote down

Nobody's hero · 19 hours ago

It's Comicon. What did you expect? Honestly you guys are so ignorant of pop-culture it's almost alarming.

+1 Vote up Vote down thelawman104 -29p · 19 hours ago

We're not ignorant of "pop culture." We are very much aware of how godless our culture has become.

[nutella addict]

Yeah, totally persecution. Mmmhmmm. I don't understand how these people are so clueless. :roll:

Has it occurred to them that their obnoxious, relentless, fire-and-brimstone preaching and intolerant rhetoric about anyone who disagrees with them might be partly to blame for this so-called "Opposition to Jesus Christ and His gospel" that is "growing in the United States"? Logic fail.

ComicCon = NOT a "demon's nest"

And in what world is a hug and a kiss on the cheek an attack? The "intensity of the moment"? Where are their brains??? *facepalm*

Oh wait, I get it, maybe he was defrauding them, with his interest and affection.

And this:

Nelson Muntz · 1 day ago

Maybe the guy had the contacts in because he was at Comic-Con? But then that would mean the world doesn't revolve around you and your street harassment. Reply +1 Vote up Vote down

is perfect/hilarious.

[emmiedahl]

I don't think a lot of Jews and Muslims do sidewalk praying.

I do it all the time, people just don't see it. And I don't feel the need to stop and block traffic. Apparently their prayers are very important.

My older brother was also there. I'll have to ask him if he saw them. He is Protestant and so not easily annoyed, so if they bothered him they were being totally out of line.

Just got a new Neil Gaiman comic book for my birthday and as I was reading it I was thinking, this is so not fundie approved.

[Terrie]

What is it with their desperation to play martyr? I mean, it's one thing to say that you would lay down your life for your convictions, but it's another to claim you've done so by having been asked to move off the sidewalk.

[formergothardite]

Didn't Jesus criticize people for publically praying?

[notsocommon]

I just read the post before the first one and, I think , that it shows that the writer is a hyprocrite. Not only does his group want the police to step in and stop a man from quietly watching them but they heckle the man when he walks away. WHen the man returns, the writer reports being freaked out. Yet, these same people are outraged that they wouldn't be allowed to block the sidewalk.

!

Wait...what.... so an 'evil' tatted up man was standing there, listening then started to walk away. Preacher boy called out 'thanks for stopping by' and the big, bad, tatted up man gave.him.a.hug.and.kiss? And the police did nothing! Oh the humanity!!11

How did he not know the man was somehow 'touched' by the preaching? Stranger things have happened. Maybe tatt guy grew up fundie, rebelled and has been struggling with his beliefs? Maybe there was something in preacher boy's words that struck a chord with him? At any rate, someone who just stood there, listened and walked away then walked back and gave the man a hug and kiss isn't evil. I wonder if the perception would have been different if the man didn't have tattoos all over his body? Scratch that...I KNOW it would be different. They would be praising God that they had 'planted a seed.' :roll:

[keeperrox]

It does seem sort of odd that this police officer had no problem with them standing around "preaching" and handing out tracts all day, but then asked them to move if they wanted to pray. But then again, I have no idea what this corner looks like or how much space they were taking up. Maybe they really were blocking the sidewalk. Either way, I wouldn't call it persecution.

I'm pretty sure the account we read would be quite different from the police officer's account.

Of course, they were doing NOTHING, minding their own business, and this big, bad police officer came over just to persecute them. He must have been a Catholic. /sarcasm

[formergothardite]

I just posted these verses:

Matthew 6:5 - 7

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and IN THE CORNERS OF THE STREET, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Jesus says you must definitely not pray as the hypocrites pray.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

And asked if they were followers of Jesus why did they disobey these verses. Wonder if they will post it.

[nutella addict]

I just posted these verses:

Matthew 6:5 - 7

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and IN THE CORNERS OF THE STREET, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Jesus says you must definitely not pray as the hypocrites pray.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

And asked if they were followers of Jesus why did they disobey these verses. Wonder if they will post it.

:clap:

[formergothardite]

You gotta admit that praying on the street is a direct violation of what Jesus taught and did Himself. He went off alone to pray. Maybe it wasn't the devil after them, maybe God wanted to shut them up because He thought they were full of themselves.

[ladypuglover]

I thought the "attacking evil man" was responding in a Christian way, so why is the writer so upset? Because he is black or homophobe? I as a woman do feel threatened sometimes when men are to close to me but if that had been I most likely wouldn't as no where in his stance or face was he even hinting at being threatening. I'm on team evil man's side and he just wanted to listen what the street preacher was saying and share it with the person he was on the phone with. :roll: