Of Bibles and Sidewalks : Lone Star Times

Of Bibles and Sidewalks

by Jeremy 'Panda Man' Weidenhof · 07/31/2007 12:59 pm

No, folks, the ACLU-types do not always win. Contrary to the dreck shoveled out via the Drive-By Media, there are actually people out there fighting the good fight. From the Alliance Defense Fund:

PLANTATION KEY, Fla. — A judge dismissed all charges Friday against two members of The Gideons International who were arrested while attempting to distribute Bibles on a public sidewalk outside Key Largo School. Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman represented the two men.

On Jan. 19, police arrested Ernest Simpson and Anthony Mirto and charged them with trespassing after the principal of Key Largo School complained that they were handing out Bibles on the public sidewalk outside the school. Following the initial motion to dismiss filed by ADF attorneys, the state dismissed the charges but then filed new ones under a different statute. At Friday’s hearing, the court granted the request of ADF attorneys to dismiss the new charges.

According to World Net Daily, the Sheriff’s Department saw the arrest a bit differently.

In a statement at the outset of the case to WND, Becky Herrin, of the public information office in the Monroe County sheriff’s office, stated as a fact that the defendants in the case did trespass. She later declined additional comment.

“A copy of our police report (see attached) … clearly states that the people in question were arrested for trespassing on school property – not on a public sidewalk… In fact, they were given the opportunity to step off school property and onto public property, and they could have continued with their activities if they had done so. They chose instead to remain, against repeated warnings, on school property so deputies were forced to arrest them,” Herrin said in a statement to WND.

But the report forwarded to WND revealed the two were arrested while in their vehicle parked near, but not on, school property.

So, “…they chose instead to remain, against repeated warnings, on school property…” and were thus arrested while in their car not on school property. Curious. Since both sets of charges were eventually dismissed, one must conclude that the judge found the circumstances rather curious as well. Unfortunately, the persecution was not limited to the charges brought to court. More from WND:

“There was no call for Officer [John] Perez’s angry demeanor, his inappropriate handling of the situation, his abusive treatment of the Gideons, his stopping and arresting them while they were in the process of leaving, his unnecessary towing of the car (parked where many other cars were parked), his handcuffing the men behind their backs, his leaving them cramped in a hot car for nearly an hour (which should never be done to animals, never mind to human beings), nor his mocking the Gideons’ religious beliefs stating ‘now you can pray to Jesus all the way to jail,’” the ADF said.

No persecution of Christians in America. Nothing to see here. Move along.

For further thought, consider what would have happened if these two men had been Muslims handing out copies of the Koran. After the principal of the school had invited the men in to use the new taxpayer-funded foot-washing basins, they probably would have been enlisted to create a new “cultural diversity program” to introduce Muslims to Islamophobic American youths.

Ah, America, the land of the free, home of the politically correct. How much more will we tolerate?

Filed Under Uncategorized ·

Comments

48 Responses to “Of Bibles and Sidewalks”

malcolm on July 31st, 2007 at 1:03 pm

REDACTED only knows how much more we will tolerate.
tedtam on July 31st, 2007 at 1:03 pm

Wash their mouth. Wash their ears. Wash their hands. Wash their feet. But no brain washing allowed.

Oh, wait…
Superman on July 31st, 2007 at 1:15 pm

Can we talk about Marvin Zindler on this thread?
Hamous on July 31st, 2007 at 1:31 pm

Has anyone ever met a real live Gideon?
Fasternu 426 on July 31st, 2007 at 1:34 pm

But, don’t throw a Koran in the toilet or you’ll be arrested for a hate crime and felony charges will be filed on you!

“A 23-year-old man was arrested Friday on hate-crime charges after he threw a Quran in a toilet at Pace University on two separate occasions, police said. …..

Stanislav Shmulevich of Brooklyn was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and aggravated harassment, both hate crimes, police said.”
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny–vandalismquran0727jul27,0,6882662.story
malcolm on July 31st, 2007 at 1:38 pm

#3 Shakey: You iz on a roll! Don’t cut’em any slack.
#4 Hammy: Isn’t there a Gideon on the TV show “Criminal Minds”? That is funnier than SELF-REDACTED!
Smacktle on July 31st, 2007 at 1:42 pm

Aren’t the Christians jealous of the Jews so now they are claiming to be persecuted as much sos they can get in on the fun? It’s worked for the Jews all this time, I don’t blame the Christians for following their lead.
Dov on July 31st, 2007 at 2:03 pm

#3 Superman

Can we talk about Marvin Zindler on this thread?

You just did.
Smacktle on July 31st, 2007 at 2:04 pm

MZ came back from the dead?!
Dov on July 31st, 2007 at 2:12 pm

If it would habe been a Jew with a Torah or a Christian with a Bible we would probably have all been done likewise but if it was a Muslim with a quran/koran Cair would have seen to it that the cop was prosecuted.

PC is BS
Hooked on LOTRO on July 31st, 2007 at 2:18 pm

Panda Man, it will continue until a large enough portion of those that follow the poverty pimps, and main stream media, and educrats, wake up. Now it will be to late if all of a sudden there is a Muslim in the White House and a Muslim controlled congress, because I hope that I am not around to see that day.
Superman on July 31st, 2007 at 2:26 pm

I wonder if someone had posted yesterday “I hope Marvin Zindler is with Allah and the 70 Virgins” if Benzene would have allowed it?

Hmmmmm……
Maltboy! on July 31st, 2007 at 2:34 pm

Hooked

The vast majority of the people in this country are mindless sheep who have no idea that Rome is burning. The only way we can save ourselves is to take to the streets, but we are too busy buying cheap Chinese crap and surfing the internet to bother. The USA is toast. It’s only a matter of time. It makes me so mad that I could scream.
Superman on July 31st, 2007 at 2:36 pm

#13 MaltedMilkBoy!

We need Superman, or better yet Jesus Christ, to save the world.
Maltboy! on July 31st, 2007 at 2:39 pm

#5 Fasternu

LGF is all over this. I hope Pace gets a good spanking for caving in to CAIR. The boy will suffer, but this will get laughed out of court, and the alumni and parents will make sure to sent the University a clear message. Someone needs to charge CAIR with RICO statute violations. This is an organized crime group if I ever saw one.
tedtam on July 31st, 2007 at 2:57 pm

For what I think sometimes, I should be punished. Severely. But only by my husband.
Superman on July 31st, 2007 at 2:59 pm

#16 tt

Does he say:

“You’re a bad girl. Bad bad girl.”
Fasternu 426 on July 31st, 2007 at 3:07 pm

15 maltboy
I’ve been watching it over there. Even posted there on a few of the threads. This needs to go viral and spread. They have some lawyers siding up with him that are LGF lizardoids.

At best, he should have to replace the book or pay a criminal mischief misdemeanor fine. I thought a hate crime had to be committed against a person?
Taking a nap on July 31st, 2007 at 3:45 pm

In both stories the arresting cops should be the ones jailed.

In the 1st story above the Gidieons were leaving and arrested, thier car towed, treated inhumanly (where are the human rights groups when a person is left in a hot vehicle, handcuffed with out water or AC) then they were harrased and belittled all the way to jail by the cop.

WHY is this cop not in jail for violating these mens civil and human rights? OOOOH that right - they were Christian not MUUUSLIM

In the 2dn story CAIR along with SOOOOOOOOOOOO many others should aLL BE BLOWN TO H3ck and thnats putting it nicely so I’ll just leave it at that.

mooselims - the other dark meat
american woman on July 31st, 2007 at 4:35 pm

Technically the persecution of Christians is expected… it is written……. How much more will we take? Very little. In my daily travels folks are mad as hell and are fixin to do something about it…….. hear that Washington?
Superman on July 31st, 2007 at 5:17 pm

Christians are viewed as pussys and pushovers and Muslims are viewed as strong and pushy.

Why? Because of the interpretation of what Jesus taught - love, peace, turn the other cheek, etc.
Aimster on July 31st, 2007 at 5:34 pm

No one should suffer persecution because of their religion, age, sex, race, or sexual preference. Our country isn’t the worst place on Earth. It isn’t perfect, but compared to many places, we are very, very lucky.
Aimster on July 31st, 2007 at 5:39 pm

#19 - Your last line is such a racist statement. What if someone said that about Christians? Surely you would assume that the person who said it had never met a decent Christian and was being unfair. It’s easier to make assumptions about another cultural group than to accept that there are good and bad people in the world, regardless of religion.

It’s a natural human response to not like (or fear) people who aren’t the same as us. What we can strive to do as humans is recognize this fact, but not let it affect the way we treat people.
tedtam on July 31st, 2007 at 5:45 pm

Was it a fact that the book belonged to someone else? If it was his personal item that he bought at Half-Price or whatever, then exactly what crime has been committed? I haven’t heard or read exactly whose book got flushed, only that a Koran took the last swim usually reserved for goldfish.
Fasternu 426 on July 31st, 2007 at 5:54 pm

tedtam

Here’s a copy of the complaint. I believe the koran belonged to the University. He took it from a library or a meditation room or something like that. He then took it to a restroom and…. well… kerplunk.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/pictures/20070730ShmulevichComplaint01.jpg

It was wrong and distasteful, but geez! CAIR and their thugs pressured the police to filing FELONT hate crime charges against him. A little much for a book. Mindcrimes only apply to certain groups and certain people.

I conce worked a homicide hwere a white guy was killed for being white. A witness on the side said “Man, they just killed that boy for being white.” Noone wanted to hear it. The guy lay face down in the ditch with his brains leaking into the dirty water. Had the colors been reversed, every resource would have been made available to prosecute for a hate crime.
american woman on July 31st, 2007 at 5:59 pm

Fast you can call em mooslems to me, its fine…. I am not defending the muslims. I’d be most happy if all of them left the USA. I don’t care how nice they are…. they support a religion of hate and fear and war and subjugation. If muslime want to live in a country like american, improve their own. The good will is over. I don’t want to see one burka………. I’m tired and cross, can you tell lol
Fasternu 426 on July 31st, 2007 at 6:01 pm

Geez, I can’t type.
Fasternu 426 on July 31st, 2007 at 6:12 pm

When groups like CAIR can affect the script of a show about an anti-terror organization that fights terror that can’t even have an Islamic terrorist as a bad guy? WTF? (I’m talking about 24 and its lame last season where the real bad guys were the Chinese and Russians, not muslim terrorists like in real life. I know of no Chinese terror groups but the only Russian ones are ….. muslim!)

My God is bigger than that and doesn’t need me to stand up for him. It works the other way around. Muslims need to defend their god because they feel he needs their help. So be it. Riot in the streets and chop the heads off those that don’t agree. Where in the world are Christian or Jewish beliefs being forced on people like that today? Nowhere. A group like the Gideons passing out Bibles and literature do not pose a threat. It appeared they had left (reading that they were in their cars) and were actually being harassed by the officer. His comments didn’t help either… Where’s the ACLU on this one? Free speech only for the pre-ordained.
Maltboy! on July 31st, 2007 at 6:13 pm

Aimster Says:

#19 - Your last line is such a racist statement.

Muslim ain’t a race. It’s a religion. Ergo, making a derogatory remark about Muslims cannot be racist. There’s no Christian race either, unless you count all the people leaving church around noon on Sunday.
Aimster on July 31st, 2007 at 6:17 pm

#26 - Christianity has been the cause of hate and fear and war and subjugation too.
Fasternu 426 on July 31st, 2007 at 6:29 pm

30
Give an example of a Christian war waged in the name of Jesus.. (And please say the Crusades, please, please, please….)

I can cite examples of Muslims killing just this afternoon somewhere in the name of allah. Just following the lead of his prophet…
american woman on July 31st, 2007 at 6:34 pm

Cair has about 1700 members. Their membership has plummeted.

http://www.theaviationnation.com/2007/06/11/cair-membership-free-falls-by-ninety-percent/
Fasternu 426 on July 31st, 2007 at 6:44 pm

Christian:
“I will die for my beliefs.”

Muslim:
“You will die for my beliefs”

Jew:
“You guys are fookin’ nuts.”
Aimster on July 31st, 2007 at 7:07 pm

#29 Maltboy - Thanks for pointing that out. I admit that I misspoke. I know that Muslims are not a race.

And Muslim is not the religion, it’s called Islam.
TEX06 on July 31st, 2007 at 7:29 pm

#21,

My Bible says that Jesus holds the trump card! Not violence in the temporal sense, but some of the afore mentioned trash [or at least their souls] will roast in hell for a long time –eternity

Praise God!
Fasternu 426 on July 31st, 2007 at 7:51 pm

Mus·lim:
1. also Mos·lem: A believer in or adherent of Islam.

Islam is the religion

Allah is the prophet.

Muslims are the followers.
Aimster on July 31st, 2007 at 7:53 pm

#36 - That’s good. Did you just learn that today?
Fasternu 426 on July 31st, 2007 at 7:57 pm

No, obviously you needed that ’splained: I’ll type real slow…..

34
And Muslim is not the religion, it’s called Islam.
Elizabeth on July 31st, 2007 at 7:58 pm

#33 Faster

Fasternu 426 Says:
July 31st, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Christian:
“I will die for my beliefs.”

Muslim:
“You will die for my beliefs”

Jew:
“You guys are fookin’ nuts.”

Not ALL Muslims think that way - but that was fookin’ FUNNY!
Aimster on July 31st, 2007 at 8:03 pm

#38 - Aren’t we saying the same thing? I said Muslim is not the religion, Islam is.

Is there something I’m missing here?
plonker on July 31st, 2007 at 8:26 pm

Seems to me, that the difference between this case the border agents, is a Judge with principles. The prosecution in both cases has ‘embellished’ the stories. I think it is time for JURIES to ask the questions. How can we decide a cases where information is missing? ( maybe the judge and both counselas should take the oath.)
RickG on July 31st, 2007 at 8:30 pm

Yes, the one true God will have the last laughj - not that he wants it.

There. I just disqualified myself from ever running for public office.
Katfish on July 31st, 2007 at 9:13 pm

#38 - specificity IS next to godliness…………..right?

*FOOKISNIKKER*™
saoder on July 31st, 2007 at 9:43 pm

RIP Cair,Lular and ACLU. Thier time has come
Neocon on July 31st, 2007 at 9:53 pm

islam is the death of any religion except it. To follow another is death. Any Muslim who follows Islam wants the death of all those it considers followers of another faith as infidels. Their religion preaches it. There is no other faith than Islam. Therefore, non- Islamists must die, pure and simple. If you are not of the faith, you must die.
plonker on July 31st, 2007 at 10:59 pm

Neocon, Have we then found an exception to the freedom of religion in the Constitution? If they are as you say, then the line must be drawn somewhere.
RickG on August 1st, 2007 at 9:05 am

Freedom of religion does not include the right to threaten people. If threats are made against specific persons, that is a prosecutable offense.
Tito on August 1st, 2007 at 2:31 pm

The chickens will come to roost for them one day. St. Peter will give them God’s judgement when they reach the Gates of Heaven.