More on the "Philadelphia 5"
Apparently, there is a big problem within the Justice Department. Since the beginning of the story out of Philadelphia related to the 11 Christians arrested for demonstrating at the "Ouftest" event on Oct. 10 (5 facing felony charges), there have been reports that homosexual attorneys from the DOJ were taking part in the rally and actually advised the police "as witnesses" on how to go about making the arrests.
The facts surrounding this case seem to be the exact opposite of what the five Christians facing up to 47 years imprisonment are accused of. The "Pink Angels", who were seen obstructing the group from being seen or heard using large pink pieces of insulating material, seemed to be the ones motivated by hate for this group as you could hear the verbal taunts being hurled at them as the group leader spoke with police. The cheers and yelling when the group was hauled off to prison was hardly motivated out of "love" and "compassion."
I am emphasizing this case not because I am a "homophobe." I am not. What I am, however, is someone who believes there are incredible injustices going on here that must be stopped. There are five people here who are in danger of spending what amounts to the rest of their lives in prison for nothing more than peacefully exercising their Constitutional right to free speech. Exactly how many times a week do homosexual groups around this country picket, protest, or march somewhere without ever being cited for anything? Every single time there is a meeting of a group deemed "homophobic", there is a group of homosexuals as close as possible trying to disrupt what is going on. Should they be arrested? In my opinion, only if they are truly breaking the law. Most of the time, however, they are simply exercising their right to free speech which they should be allowed to do. My question is, why the double-standard? First, because of bad legislation. There is obviously a problem with Philly's "hate-crime" legislation when this kind of action is allowed. Secondly, It appears to be happening because the Department of Justice is being filled with homosexuals more concerned with their self-interests than the justice they are sworn to uphold.
In my opinion, every homosexual in America with any shred of decency should be as outraged as anybody. This is not, by and large, a homosexual problem, it's an American problem. It certainly does not put the "homosexual agenda" in any better light with the American public. Do I feel this way just because I'm a Bible-believing Christian? No. I would be just as outraged if a group of homosexuals was peacefully protesting and arrested and charged with similar crimes. This is an example of legislation gone nuts. Why isn't there more of a widespread outcry over this? Has the "culture war" really moved to this level? If so, it is certain to only get a lot uglier.
Brian Fahling, attorney for the "Philadelphia 5" stated, "It's clear that the facts don't matter … in Philadelphia, so there's going to have to be outside intervention from the Justice Department." It appears that if it's up to the DOJ, there may be little hope for the five.
Please see previous posts on the subject.
According to the Justice Department employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, a number of agency attorneys from Washington, D.C., attended the October "OutFest" event, and, he says, they therefore are not likely to take up the cause of the five criminally charged Christians who believe Philadelphia officials violated their civil rights.So, at this point, it appears that there will be little help from the United States Department of Justice because of the participation of its attorneys. The DOJ employee stated, "Because of that participation, the source thought there would be a 'conflict' with the homosexual attorneys, saying they would not be too eager to help the Christians who protested at OutFest."
The facts surrounding this case seem to be the exact opposite of what the five Christians facing up to 47 years imprisonment are accused of. The "Pink Angels", who were seen obstructing the group from being seen or heard using large pink pieces of insulating material, seemed to be the ones motivated by hate for this group as you could hear the verbal taunts being hurled at them as the group leader spoke with police. The cheers and yelling when the group was hauled off to prison was hardly motivated out of "love" and "compassion."
I am emphasizing this case not because I am a "homophobe." I am not. What I am, however, is someone who believes there are incredible injustices going on here that must be stopped. There are five people here who are in danger of spending what amounts to the rest of their lives in prison for nothing more than peacefully exercising their Constitutional right to free speech. Exactly how many times a week do homosexual groups around this country picket, protest, or march somewhere without ever being cited for anything? Every single time there is a meeting of a group deemed "homophobic", there is a group of homosexuals as close as possible trying to disrupt what is going on. Should they be arrested? In my opinion, only if they are truly breaking the law. Most of the time, however, they are simply exercising their right to free speech which they should be allowed to do. My question is, why the double-standard? First, because of bad legislation. There is obviously a problem with Philly's "hate-crime" legislation when this kind of action is allowed. Secondly, It appears to be happening because the Department of Justice is being filled with homosexuals more concerned with their self-interests than the justice they are sworn to uphold.
In my opinion, every homosexual in America with any shred of decency should be as outraged as anybody. This is not, by and large, a homosexual problem, it's an American problem. It certainly does not put the "homosexual agenda" in any better light with the American public. Do I feel this way just because I'm a Bible-believing Christian? No. I would be just as outraged if a group of homosexuals was peacefully protesting and arrested and charged with similar crimes. This is an example of legislation gone nuts. Why isn't there more of a widespread outcry over this? Has the "culture war" really moved to this level? If so, it is certain to only get a lot uglier.
Brian Fahling, attorney for the "Philadelphia 5" stated, "It's clear that the facts don't matter … in Philadelphia, so there's going to have to be outside intervention from the Justice Department." It appears that if it's up to the DOJ, there may be little hope for the five.
Fahling said that at the preliminary hearing in December, the Philadelphia city prosecutor in the case, Charles Ehrlich, attacked the defendants as "hateful" and referred to preaching the Bible as "fighting words," a characterization, the law group says, with which Judge Meehan agreed.Fahling believes the only way the DOJ will get involved is if enough public pressure is applied to over-ride it's bias. Those who believe this case is a miscarriage of justice are encouraged to get involved by contacting Chief Albert Moskowitz in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division at 202-514-4540, and Chief Shanetta Brown-Cutlar in Special Litigation at 202-514-6255.
Charges were dropped against six of the 11 Christians, apparently because they were not seen quoting Scripture on the videotape.
The ethnic intimidation charge stems from Pennsylvania's "hate crimes" law – to which the newest "victim" category of "sexual orientation" was recently added.
Please see previous posts on the subject.
Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 1/10/2005 11:09:00 AM
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