Colorado Springs: a playground for pro-life, pro-gun evangelical Christians
Colorado Springs: a playground for pro-life, pro-gun evangelical Christians
Anti-abortion rhetoric is not hard to find in the city where the fortress-like Planned Parenthood centre is the subject of regular protests
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People are escorted away from the scene by police after a gunman opened fire at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs on Friday. Photograph: Daniel Owen/ZUMA Press/Corbis
Colorado Springs, the location of an attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic that left three people dead, is a centre of rightwing Christian culture with a wild west mentality when it comes to guns.
The attack, by a lone gunman carrying a rifle or shotgun, took place at a clinic that is the site of regular anti-abortion protests by the citys pro-life Christian groups.
Planned Parenthood, aware of hostility about their work, recently moved to the new facility, hoping it would provide more security for staff. The building has been likened to a fortress by anti-abortion campaigners and Fridays attacks revealed that it is equipped with safe rooms for staff to shelter in the event of such an event. It also has an extensive security camera system.
With anti-abortion policies supported by many Republican presidential candidates such as Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Jeb Bush, rhetoric attacking Planned Parenthood and other such organisations is not hard to find in the city. Last spring, following the gruesome attack on a Colorado woman who had her unborn-baby ripped from her womb with a knife, state representative and Springs resident Gordon Klingenschmitt said the attack was the curse of God upon America for our sin of not protecting innocent children in the womb.
Colorados second largest city, with a population of 445,800, has built itself a reputation as a playground for white, pro-gun, pro-life Evangelical Christians. It is also home to one army base, two air force bases, and an air force.
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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/28/colorado-springs-a-playground-for-pro-life-pro-gun-evangelical-christians
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(8,659 posts)Evangelicals' takeover of the US Air Force Academy was making big news about 10 years ago.