Street Preaching

From WorldNetDaily...

Michael and Joy Wheeler spent a night in jail Nov. 7 after being arrested at the Kansas City Area Transit Authority's Transit Plaza on the corner of 10th and Main streets....

Michael Wheeler said he was sharing his faith, with his wife quietly praying alongside, when a Metro bus supervisor approached and told the couple to leave.

The Wheelers began to pray, and police soon arrived to arrest them. Michael Wheeler was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct and Joy Wheeler was charged with disorderly conduct....

"Religious speech is not second-class speech, and Christians should not be arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights," said ADF Litigation Counsel David LaPlante. "Unfortunately in this case, a Christian husband and wife were arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct for sharing the gospel in a public place."

A municipal court denied ADF's motion to dismiss the case, but on appeal, the Wheelers were granted a new trial...

LaPlante noted Wheeler has been sharing his faith in public at that location and others across the country for the past 21 years.

I understand that street preaching is probably one of the least effective forms of evangelism, yet that's really not an argument for outlawing it. Some see street preaching as a useful tool in the education of preachers, since maintain zeal in the face of an ambivalent congregation is something many (if not most) preachers face.

Be that as it may, the fact remains that the law allows lots of annoying behavior on the part of people, without harassing them. Telemarketers are a perfect example. Sure there's a "Do Not Call" list, that I have yet to hear verified as to its effectiveness. Many noted that a regional "Do Not Call" list becomes a "These Saps Are Home" list for international telemarketers who can now call us at a much less cost than before. Even then it took years before even the idea of a "Do Not Call" list was proposed. Street preachers can easily be ignored; telemarketers can't.

Then there's the problem of outlawing speech due to its content, as well as the irony of who is usually first to censor Christian speech (almost always it's self-proclaimed civil rights groups). Anti-Christian bigot groups like the ACLU and their ilk love small obscure precedences to beat those they find offensive over the head with. Do we really want to be arming these cretins?

Posted by Danny Carlton at June 21, 2006 5:49 AM