Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In college I and many other female students were harassed by a street preacher on campus. One day when I walked past him he screamed that if I did not accept Jesus, I would be raped and die of AIDS.
I had had enough at that point. Every single day he'd yell disgusting things at females, calling us "sluts" and telling us to "cover ourselves" because we were being "sexual temptresses". He would usually weave obscenities into these insults.
If he had not been spouting random Bible verses in-between these vulgar outbursts, the police would have escorted him off campus long ago. But since he was a "preacher", they let it slide. I complained to the university police and threatened to sue the university if he was not removed from campus. (I wasn't really going to sue.)
The "preacher" was escorted off campus that day by the university police, and he immediately resumed his vulgar preaching across the street. He was back on campus the next day, continuing to harass female students. Others complained, and after he was kicked off campus several times they finally decided to ban him from returning.
He was a disgusting pig. That was almost 20 years ago; nowadays I have no doubt that someone really would sue. And he'd probably sue for being kicked off campus.
Was this Brother Jed? I was at Auburn a little less than 20 years ago, and Brother Jed would stand on the student concourse yelling at girls about being sluts and whores and any other derogatory term he could come up with. I know a lot of people who used to **** with him...girls who would flash him, couples that would "get in on" in front of him, just to get more of a rise out of him. I kept waiting for him to insult the wrong frat-boy's girlfriend and for him to get his face turned inside out. But, like WBC< that's probably what he was hoping for. What a loser wingbat.
So anyone who walks up and talks to your kid from less than five feet away is giving you reason to think they are dangerous? Especially in this case, the man brought his own son and was carrying pamphlets. Not like he was alone and had his hands in trench coat pockets for crying out loud! I think anyone in the OP's story who would actually claim they thought this man might be dangerous is full of it.
Yes, a stranger who walks up and talks to my kid I see as potentially dangerous. I don't care what he brings with him, religious tracts or his own kid. There are predators out there, and they don't wear signs telling you they are such. They actually try to trick you into believing they are harmless. Do I think every person I meet is a predator? Not at all. Most every person I meet is genuinely nice, and my life is better for having met them. But if you want to talk to my kid, ask me if it's okay. Tell me what you want to talk to them about. Go through me. Because if you don't, you're violating boundaries. You might not be doing anything wrong, you are likely to be like most every person I meet, genuinely nice. But when you don't go through me, yeah, you make me suspicious. And if it's religion you're pushing, that isn't nice, either. As a parent, I want to be the person my kid goes to with religious questions. I respect that one day my child will make his own choice, but in the meantime, I want to instill my values, my sense of morality in my child. And I think most parents feel the same way. It's not about thinking this man is dangerous, it's about this man violating boundaries that parents get to set for their children. This man would feel just as violated if I approached his 8-year old with Hindu tracts and an invitation to Hindu services this weekend.
Yes, a stranger who walks up and talks to my kid I see as potentially dangerous. I don't care what he brings with him, religious tracts or his own kid. There are predators out there, and they don't wear signs telling you they are such. They actually try to trick you into believing they are harmless. Do I think every person I meet is a predator? Not at all. Most every person I meet is genuinely nice, and my life is better for having met them. But if you want to talk to my kid, ask me if it's okay. Tell me what you want to talk to them about. Go through me. Because if you don't, you're violating boundaries.
Geez. Tell me you're part of a club that wears T-shirts or something to identify yourselves. I'd hate to say hi to a kid and end up surrounded by police officers telling me to scram. And if someone ever asked me for permission to speak to my son (who is not an infant), I do believe I would look at them as if they were crazy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge
And if it's religion you're pushing, that isn't nice, either. As a parent, I want to be the person my kid goes to with religious questions. I respect that one day my child will make his own choice, but in the meantime, I want to instill my values, my sense of morality in my child. And I think most parents feel the same way. It's not about thinking this man is dangerous, it's about this man violating boundaries that parents get to set for their children.
Well of course we feel the same way. But some of us realize that our kids are going to be exposed to religious promotion even in their childhood one way or the other. You yourself said, "He can stand in the parking lot and proclaim his views all day. I'm fine with that." What's the difference? I mean if it's not about thinking he's dangerous, and you don't believe Christians are disease-ridden or something, how does the proximity of the messenger affect anything when it's the same message? Sounds to me like the same "boundaries" are being "violated", whether the proselytizer is a few feet or a few meters away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge
This man would feel just as violated if I approached his 8-year old with Hindu tracts and an invitation to Hindu services this weekend.
I'm not so sure. He might just say "No, thank you" and then give his son a lecture about how that's "just another trick of the devil, son". He is a proselytizer himself, after all.
Geez. Tell me you're part of a club that wears T-shirts or something to identify yourselves. I'd hate to say hi to a kid and end up surrounded by police officers telling me to scram. And if someone ever asked me for permission to speak to my son (who is not an infant), I do believe I would look at them as if they were crazy.
Well of course we feel the same way. But some of us realize that our kids are going to be exposed to religious promotion even in their childhood one way or the other. You yourself said, "He can stand in the parking lot and proclaim his views all day. I'm fine with that." What's the difference? I mean if it's not about thinking he's dangerous, and you don't believe Christians are disease-ridden or something, how does the proximity of the messenger affect anything when it's the same message? Sounds to me like the same "boundaries" are being "violated", whether the proselytizer is a few feet or a few meters away.
I'm not so sure. He might just say "No, thank you" and then give his son a lecture about how that's "just another trick of the devil, son". He is a proselytizer himself, after all.
Oh, please. If you said "hi" to a kid and went on your merry way, you wouldn't be surrounded by police officers. And this guy wasn't arrested or detained in any fashion. He was told that several people had complained about his activities. This guy didn't say "hi" to a kid. This guy had an agenda to push and he was using children to do it. He can push his agenda all he wants. But he's not allowed to use my child to push it. People chose not to confront him, but instead to let authorities with training and the ability to respond to confront him. It's not an attack on Christianity. It's just people protecting their children the best way they know how.
It's breaking social norms when an adult stranger approaches children in public to tell them about anything. It's uncalled for no matter what you are peddling.
These people PUSH BOUNDRIES in the name of "freedom" and it will ultimately eliminate some of the freedoms we currently have. They don't care, they are on a personal mission and usually mentally off a bit anyway.
Whether it's inappropriate bible thumpers or naked gay men (they are more similar than they believe) everyone is fed up with it.
jesus sucks...and his creepy followers suck even more... it's like.. we get it... stop knocking on my door.. I'm not getting on the f***ing bus... stop bugging me already..
Seriously? First Amendment rights are not absolute. You cannot harass people. You cannot yell fire in a crowded theater.
You absolutely can yell fire in a crowded theater under the right circumstance. So your exception isn't absolute either.
But yes there are restrictions. If you violate the law as part of your speech you can be held accountable and liable is a good example.
But, it's not harassment until a parent or the child tells him to stop. Did he approach a child one on one and badger that individual child after the child or parent told him to stop? I didn't see that.
The police attempting to chill speech by preemption (aka passive restraint) is not stopping someone that is actively harassing another.
It's breaking social norms when an adult stranger approaches children in public to tell them about anything. It's uncalled for no matter what you are peddling.
Seriously!
Back away from people's kids that you don't know unless you're a clown making balloon animals!
If someone wants to convert children, they need to go through the parents.
I remember answering the phone as a 7-8 year old, and having an evangelist on the other end asking me about my beliefs, heaven, etc. He knew I was a kid. He asked my address, and they showed up at my door sometime later. My mother answered the door and they told her they had spoken to me. She was livid that these people would do such a thing, and sent them on their way. I got a stern talking to about stranger-danger at that point.
It's breaking social norms when an adult stranger approaches children in public to tell them about anything. It's uncalled for no matter what you are peddling.
But not illegal. The issue is about the man in police. He should have flipped them the bird and held out his hands for handcuffs.
Maybe the OP meant what you're thinking but it's his government suppressing him that is giving rise to a lawsuit threat not that he's a nutcase (or not).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
