Google “Arlene Elshinnawy” and you will pull up 9 pages of results from Christian news sites which tell you that this sweet little 75 year old grandmother was arrested for preaching against homosexuality on a Philadelphia sidewalk. She has become the poster grandma of the Christian’s victimization at the hands of hate crime laws, appearing on every right-wing show from Bill O’Reilly to Focus on the Family.
From my favorite, World Net Daily:
“Arrested for sharing the Gospel? An expected outcome in North Korea, China or any Muslim country on the globe. But in Pennsylvania? Yep. Arlene Elshinnawy, a 75-year-old grandmother of three ... (along with nine others), were arrested for sharing their faith on the public sidewalk in Philadelphia, Pa., USA. They faced 47 years (the rest of their lives) in jail for spreading the Gospel because of a Pennsylvania "hate crimes" law ...”
In order to find the real story, I had to Google Philly Pride and Arlene Elshinnawy together. Which returned the actual court documents for this case, always the best source for the truth. Which is this:
On October 10, 2004, the gay rights organization Philly Pride held a festival known as OutFest which covered several streets in the gay neighborhood of Philadelphia, for which they had obtained all the legal permits. Streets were blocked off from traffic, vendors were set up, stages assembled for presentations, etc.
It was well-publicized in the news that the Christian anti-gay group Repent America planned to disrupt the event, which they had done at several other similar events across the nation. Philly Pride asked the city to step in and prevent the protesters from coming into the festival area, since they had obtained a legal permit to hold a private, non-publicly funded event, and wanted to avoid any confrontation.
The city declined the request. As the court document shows, however, Repent America “did not seek or obtain a permit to conduct any expressive activities at the OutFest location.”
Philly Pride knew they would be there, though, and they decided to recruit volunteers to form a “human buffer” against Repent America’s protestors.
On the day of the festival, members of Repent America, including the grannies, illegally entered the area, complete with signage, bullhorns, and a documentary film crew (see court document).
What ensued was a face-off between the gays and the anti-gays, with much yelling and screaming for hours, drawing crowds in the thousands. As the court document shows, the anti-gays (do I really have to call them Christian?) were menacing and taunting, calling a member of Philly Pride “she man” repeatedly, making school-yard jokes about 5 O’clock shadow, etc.
The Philly police officers who, god love them, were overseeing the festival, allowed this to continue for quite some time as it is within both parties’ First Amendment rights to try to out-scream each other. It was only when officers asked members of Repent America to move to a different location, as they were blocking access to a stage presentation, that trouble erupted. The anti-gays threw themselves to the ground and began screaming about their First Amendment rights. They were subsequently arrested for “disorderly conduct, disobeying the order of a police officer, and related charges.”
They turned around and sued the city for violation of their civil rights, and the judge threw the case out of court. But four years later, the Christian myth machine is still milking this one for all it's worth, spreading the lie that grandmas who were singing and praying on a public sidewalk were handcuffed and hauled off to jail for Jesus' sake.
I do, in fact, believe Ms. Elshinawwy is a victim. But not of any hate crimes law.
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3 comments:
People of most religions have always persecuted those of other beliefs when they have the power to do so, and then claim persecution when the persecuted retaliate. What is it about religion that makes people do this?
Not only that, but the greatest persecution of all is against people who have no belief. You're better off running for president of the US if you're a muslim, or a mormon, but if you're a non-believer, you will get the fewest votes.
I wonder how many politicians are actually "closet atheists"?
Seeker, I think the question you pose expands further than religion. Basically, any distinguishably different group of people will suffer from discrimination in an intolerant society. There is no safe haven. Religion tends to link people together by separating them from those who don't share their views. It sets the stage for discrimination.
Even a religion like Christianity that (in some parts of the Bible) promotes acceptance and tolerance of others, is conveniently complex enough to allow so many multiple interpretations of the texts that it ceases to be a single religion, and allows for all levels of intolerant behavior.
That's one reason I'm no longer one of them. I guess now I can no longer succeed if I ever choose to run for political office. Oh well. :)
"Religion tends to link people together by separating them from those who don't share their views. It sets the stage for discrimination."
I think you nailed it, buddy!
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