In These Times: Anarchists Go to Church

Anarchists Go to Church
Mount Hope files federal suit against Bash Back! over Sunday morning protest.

By Rebecca Harris


Backed by lawyers from the right-wing Alliance Defense Fund, a Michigan church is using a law pioneered by pro-choice activists to seek damages, legal fees and a federal injunction against demonstrators who disrupted a church service.

On Nov. 9, 2008, 10 members of Bash Back!, a Chicago-based national network of anarchist queers, snuck into a Sunday morning service at Mount Hope Church in Delta Township, Mich. As a group of protesters outside the church distracted security guards, those in the sanctuary began chanting, kissing and distributing fliers that called on young people to “try exploring and embracing these new feelings your mind and soul have chosen to engage in.”

The protest came at the end of a three-day Bash Back! gathering in Lansing, Mich. Bash Back! said in a statement that some of its members had attended Mount Hope as children, and the group wanted to “confront their demons” and “send a message of acceptance” to any queer youth in the 700-person congregation. Mount Hope was targeted, the group explained, for its “repulsive projects including organized ‘ex-gay’ conferences and so-called ‘hell houses,’ which depict queers, trannies and womyn who seek abortions in hell.”

Months of investigation by Eaton County Sheriff’s Department deputies yielded no criminal charges. The only inside protester identified by a witness was from out of state, and the participation of others could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. “If we get provable information as to who it was, it may cause us to reconsider,” Neil O’Brien, senior assistant Eaton County prosecuting attorney, told In These Times. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4504/anarchists_go_to_church

I just wish mainstream Christians would stand up against these Dispensationalist idiots instead of thinking there's some kind of phony Christian solidarity with them.

There really isn't, you know.