End Times and Current Events
March 29, 2024, 08:20:38 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Welcome To End Times and Current Events.
 
  Home Help Search Gallery Staff List Login Register  

Minn. City Stops Christians From Evangelizing at Tour of Lights Event

Shoutbox
March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
December 31, 2022, 10:08:58 am NilsFor1611 says: blessings
August 08, 2018, 02:38:10 am suzytr says: Hello, any good churches in the Sacto, CA area, also looking in Reno NV, thanks in advance and God Bless you Smiley
January 29, 2018, 01:21:57 am Christian40 says: It will be interesting to see what happens this year Israel being 70 years as a modern nation may 14 2018
October 17, 2017, 01:25:20 am Christian40 says: It is good to type Mark is here again!  Smiley
October 16, 2017, 03:28:18 am Christian40 says: anyone else thinking that time is accelerating now? it seems im doing days in shorter time now is time being affected in some way?
September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
September 14, 2017, 08:06:04 am Psalm 51:17 says: bro Mark Hunter on YT has some good, edifying stuff too.
View Shout History
Pages: [1]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Minn. City Stops Christians From Evangelizing at Tour of Lights Event  (Read 341 times)
Mark
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 21786



View Profile
« on: November 25, 2012, 06:28:01 am »

Minn. City Stops Christians From Evangelizing at Tour of Lights Event

An emergency motion was filed against the City of Duluth, Minn., earlier this week after the city continued to deny Christians the right to share their faith at a holiday lighting event that is held annually in a public park.
"The government cannot ban the First Amendment in a public park just because event officials don't like the message that a person is sharing," Jonathan Scruggs, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) legal counsel, said in statement. Scruggs is serving as co-counsel in the case with Nate Kellum of the Center for Religious Expression.

"The court ordered the city to respect the First Amendment, but it is not doing so," said Scruggs. "We are therefore asking the court to enforce its order and hold the city in contempt. It has disregarded both the court's order and what the order sought to protect: the constitutionally protected freedom of citizens to engage in non-disruptive speech in a public place."

Steve Jankowski, a minister, and three of his friends went to Bayfront Festival Park to share their faith and pass out Christian literature during opening day of the Bentleyville Tour of Lights event on Nov. 17. They were eventually asked by a police officer to leave, and were told they could only share their faith in a designated area outside of the event, despite a court order from December 2011 that says otherwise.

The friends left the park after being told they could be arrested for trespassing, despite having conducted themselves in a non-disruptive manner.

In a video clip captured by one of the friends, the officer said the rented park was considered "private property" for use by the nonprofit Tour of Lights organization only.

When Michael Winandy, one of Jankowski's friends, offered to show the officer a copy of the injunction against the city, the officer replied: "Ok, what I'm telling you is that our City Attorney has...given us direction that if you want to practice your First Amendment right, which is perfectly fine, that you have to be in that First Amendment Zone."

According to the website for Tour of Lights, which is described as the largest holiday light display in the Midwest and works to raise nonperishable food items and unwrapped toys for those in need, the event's staff has the right to ask people to leave if they make "public attempts to convert others' beliefs."

In a letter cited in the emergency motion filed Tuesday, the city says the previous court order that removed the First Amendment ban is no longer applicable – the terms of the contract between the city and the nonprofit have changed since the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota issued the injunction in December 2011 over a similar incident.

The City of Duluth has now granted the organization exclusive use of the park, though ADF attorneys say it is still a public forum because it is a public park and there is no charge for admission into the Tour of Lights event.

"Clearly, the city should have sought to talk to us and the court about the injunction before violating it. The city's improper actions do not change the fact that they have violated the First Amendment freedoms of these citizens," said Scruggs.

The Christian Post was unable to reach the offices of either Duluth City Attorney Gunnar Johnson or Mayor Don Ness before publication time.


Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/minn-city-stops-christians-from-evangelizing-at-tour-of-lights-event-85462/#hYx9wkHcfiGxSZyU.99
Report Spam   Logged

What can you do for Jesus?  Learn what 1 person can accomplish.

The Man from George Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkjMvPhLrn8

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Mark
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 21786



View Profile
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2012, 06:29:41 am »

Quote
When Michael Winandy, one of Jankowski's friends, offered to show the officer a copy of the injunction against the city, the officer replied: "Ok, what I'm telling you is that our City Attorney has...given us direction that if you want to practice your First Amendment right, which is perfectly fine, that you have to be in that First Amendment Zone."

These are so wrong and becoming more and more a problem. Just what is a first amendment zone? Is the Constitution only limited to certain places?
Report Spam   Logged

What can you do for Jesus?  Learn what 1 person can accomplish.

The Man from George Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkjMvPhLrn8
Mark
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 21786



View Profile
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2012, 06:34:23 am »

Free speech zone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 
The free speech zone at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
The free speech zone at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (different angle)Free speech zones (also known as First Amendment Zones, Free speech cages, and Protest zones) are areas set aside in public places for political activists to exercise their right of free speech in the United States. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law... abridging... the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The existence of free speech zones is based on U.S. court decisions stipulating that the government may regulate the time, place, and manner—but not content—of expression. A free speech zone is more restrictive than an exclusion zone[citation needed].

The Supreme Court has developed a four-part analysis to evaluate the constitutionality of time, place and manner (TPM) restrictions. To pass muster under the First Amendment, TPM restrictions must be neutral with respect to content, narrowly drawn, serve a significant government interest, and leave open alternative channels of communication. Application of this four-part analysis varies with the circumstances of each case, and typically requires lower standards for the restriction of obscenity and fighting words.

Free speech zones have been used at a variety of political gatherings. The stated purpose of free speech zones is to protect the safety of those attending the political gathering, or for the safety of the protesters themselves. Critics, however, suggest that such zones are "Orwellian",[1][2] and that authorities use them in a heavy-handed manner to censor protesters by putting them literally out of sight of the mass media, hence the public, as well as visiting dignitaries. Though authorities generally deny specifically targeting protesters, on a number of occasions, these denials have been contradicted by subsequent court testimony. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed, with various degrees of success and failure, a number of lawsuits on the issue.

The most prominent examples were those created by the United States Secret Service for President George W. Bush and other members of his administration.[3] Free speech zones existed in limited forms prior to the Presidency of George W. Bush; it was during Bush's presidency that their scope has been greatly expanded.[4]

Many colleges and universities earlier instituted free speech zone rules during the Vietnam-era protests of the 1960s and 1970s. In recent years, a number of them have revised or removed these restrictions following student protests and lawsuits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_zone
Report Spam   Logged

What can you do for Jesus?  Learn what 1 person can accomplish.

The Man from George Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkjMvPhLrn8
Mark
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 21786



View Profile
« Reply #3 on: November 25, 2012, 06:35:10 am »

'First Amendment Zones' Restrict Free Speech  
Editorial
 
President Bush's "First Amendment zones" were not a new development for Knoxville. Police and Secret Service agents have been restricting protesters across the country to zones variously called "protest zones" or "free-speech zones" or, as in Knoxville, "First Amendment zones" for the president's appearances.

The fact that they're not new, however, doesn't make them any more palatable. In a country that reveres free speech as a basic tenet, it is an insult to limit that right to particular areas or zones. To paraphrase a comment made by a protester in Pennsylvania, we thought all of America was a First Amendment zone.

When Bush visited West View Elementary School on Mingle Avenue in Knoxville Jan. 8, the announcement was made that protesters would be kept at a state building parking lot at Middlebrook Pike and Mingle Avenue several blocks - or about one-third of a mile - from the school.

Bush also attended a fund-raising luncheon at the Knoxville Convention Center, and another zone for protesters was designated at the intersection of Henley Street and Cumberland Avenue, across the street from the center.

Darrell DeBusk, a spokesman for the Knoxville Police Department, said the zones were for the safety of the protesters. He said police were concerned they might be hit by passing cars.

Although the parking lot of the State Plaza Building at Middlebrook and Mingle originally had been designated as a First Amendment zone, about 30 minutes before Bush's motorcade arrived, police ordered the protesters to move some 150 feet west, out of sight of the motorcade.

Within minutes, however, state employees and Bush supporters lined the parking lot armed with signs, American flags and video cameras. Police didn't bother them.

This action begs the question of whether the First Amendment zones are for the safety of the president and the protesters or whether they are to protect Bush from the sight of people who don't agree with him.

There have always been restrictions on free speech - one can't shout "fire" in a crowded theater, and neither can one talk for an hour during a crowded agenda at a City Council meeting.

Although we value the security of the president, we believe the creation of First Amendment zones goes too far. There must be a better way to bridge the gap between the need for security and a First Amendment right. As one of our readers commented in a letter to the editor, this indeed is beginning to sound Orwellian.

Citizens have not allowed the creation of First Amendment zones to go unchallenged. In September, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Secret Service in a Philadelphia federal court requesting a nationwide injunction forbidding the designated areas. The lawsuit lists dozens of examples in 11 states where protesters were herded to designated areas.

The lawsuit alleges officials kept protesters further away from the president than those who supported him or kept all people expressing an opinion in protest zones, while those who merely observed were allowed closer.

"It's unconstitutional to protect the president from criticism," said Vic Walczak, a member of the ACLU legal team that filed the lawsuit. "How does it advance security to put people criticizing the president a mile away while allowing people with pro-Bush signs or no signs to be much closer?"

We think that's a good question, and we're pleased to see that Walczak and the ACLU are not the only ones asking it. We have heard from a number of our readers who have asked the same thing and have expressed outrage that free speech would be restricted to a designated zone.

Americans are on a first-name basis with free speech, and Knoxvillian Brent Ashe expressed that sentiment succinctly during Bush's visit, while he stood among the rows of protesters with dozens of anti-Bush signs across from the convention center.

Ashe was one of three Bush supporters, and he held up a tattered "Bush/Cheney" sign that had been in his yard during the 2000 election.

"We're all Americans out here, and we're all expressing our opinions," he said. "That's what America is all about."

What a shame those establishing the zones don't understand that.

 
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0125-02.htm
Report Spam   Logged

What can you do for Jesus?  Learn what 1 person can accomplish.

The Man from George Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkjMvPhLrn8
Kilika
Guest
« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2012, 12:17:09 pm »

Quote
In a video clip captured by one of the friends, the officer said the rented park was considered "private property" for use by the nonprofit Tour of Lights organization only.

When Michael Winandy, one of Jankowski's friends, offered to show the officer a copy of the injunction against the city, the officer replied: "Ok, what I'm telling you is that our City Attorney has...given us direction that if you want to practice your First Amendment right, which is perfectly fine, that you have to be in that First Amendment Zone."

Yep, this is a newly applied tactic to silence opposing voices. And those voices are usually churchianity types insisting on their constitutional rights, but you cannot have it both ways.

What does Jesus say? "Render unto God the things that be God's..."

You cannot serve two masters, period.

These churchers are forcing cities to take steps to try to keep them from disrupting their secular antics. Sorry, the pamplet-pushers are doctrinally wrong, and I don't blame these cities for taking such unconstitutional measures to try to keep them in check. THis is making it worse for Christianity, not better, because it's causing the unbelieving to become so resentful and angry at the pushing of their churchianity dogma that it's having the opposite effect desired. The secular world will not cave in, they will only get much worse. Prophecy says so.

This doesn't justify the obvious unconstitutionality of these "free speech zones" they have invented, but that's the kind of negative effect these churchianity types have had on the unbelieving world. You keep shoving pamplets and water bottle swith scripture on them at people when they are celebrating some secular event, all they will do is make people mad and more turned off by Christianity.

But then, this is WND, home to mostly secular evangelicals of the Republican persuation reporting these type stories, so take it for what it's worth.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2012, 01:33:01 pm »


This doesn't justify the obvious unconstitutionality of these "free speech zones" they have invented, but that's the kind of negative effect these churchianity types have had on the unbelieving world. You keep shoving pamplets and water bottle swith scripture on them at people when they are celebrating some secular event, all they will do is make people mad and more turned off by Christianity.


Isn't it the Holy Spirit that draws people to be saved? This is why I don't get these people thinking we have to hang out all over the place and pass out pamphlets et al to every individual whether they like it or not.

I know some have good intentions(and I used to have this mentality too), but just merely giving some guy you don't know or never met some pamphlet isn't going to help anything. And besides, they need to be shown the word(the KJV, that is), not some guy's writing in some "daily devotional".
Report Spam   Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
Free SMF Hosting - Create your own Forum

Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy