The Emerging Uncivil SocietyA group of about 25,000 young Christians gathered at the AT&T Park baseball stadium in San Francisco last week to celebrate and promote Christian values in a campaign they call "Battlecry for a Generation." A couple of hundred of the youngsters went to the front steps of the city hall to protest gay marriage. They were greeted by hundreds of people with bullhorns shouting: "No to Woman-Hating Anti-Gay Christian Fascist Theocracy!" and "I moved to San Francisco to Get Away From People Like You;" and "Shut up and go home. We don't need more people like you taking over our children's lives."
California legislator Mark Leno, who introduced the gay marriage bill, passed by the Legislature, but vetoed by the governor, spoke to the crowd, saying about the young Christians: "They're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco." Before the young Christians even staged their rally, the San Francisco supervisors adopted a resolution condemning the fundamentalist rally, for spreading hate of gay people and others.
The anti-Christian demonstration was organized by several "civil society" organizations, which include: World Can't Wait; Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights; Sister Bernie Galvin; Not in Our Name; Code Pink; San Francisco Labor Council; Pride at Work; The anti-war ANSWER Coalition; American Atheists; and the Church of Natural Grace.
Public demonstrations and protests are more American than apple pie. They are a product of the basic freedoms of speech and assembly. It is a part of the process through which conflicting values and ideas collide. In a civil society, conflicting ideas survive the collision of public debate on the strength of reason, persuasion, and the merit of the proposition.
On the steps of San Francisco's city hall, there was no reason or persuasion or opportunity to even discuss the merits of opposing views. There was noise, name-calling, and intimidation.
These tactics are not limited to the streets of San Francisco.
FULL STORY at
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49544
Ex-Gay Group Booted From Conference
A group that believes people with same-sex attractions can abandon homosexuality was evicted from the Virginia Schools Counselors Association annual convention.
PFOX, Parents and Friends of Ex-gays and Gays, said school counselors at the event in Richmond, Va., last week objected to some of its materials and insisted the group leave.
FULL STORY at
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49573