29 March 2008

Still more on the Holy Name protest

Supposedly, the suspects are free on bail. Major news outlets still haven't reported if they were free or not, but supposedly, these nuts have walked amongst their fellow nuts since their arrest.
I know, I suppose I should just let it go. Still, it's nuts like these jerks that make me think there really is a war going on between the left and the right, and that I need to do something to protect myself against quacks like this.
For all the good it's done, I've continued posting on the Chicago indy media website, only to have most of my posts deleted. So much for open debate and such. I suppose that's what I should expect from people who terrorize a church in the name of the first amendment.
Anyhoo, here's my latest post, under the name The Notorious P.I.G.:
One other thing here. While the first amendment does include protection of free speech, it also includes the right to practice religion freely and to peaceably assemble. I'm no lawyer or anything, but I haven't seen anything that says the right to free speech outweighs the right to practice religion and assemble peacefully.
That's why I remain angry about what the protesters did last Sunday. In my mind, it seems they took it upon themselves to show that their freedom of speech is more important to them than the freedom of others to practice religion.
Illinois, especially Chicago, traditionally votes very heavily for Democrat candidates. The state was carried by Al Gore in 2000 and by John Kerry in 2004 in respective presidential elections. Chances are a good portion of the people inside Holy Name on Sunday already opposed the war and have cast votes supporting candidates that wouldn't have as much of a war policy as Bush.
Also, an usher's hearing aid was damaged by the demonstration, according to reports. Are the protesters willing to make restitution to the usher, so he can get his hearing aid repaired or replaced?
Of course Cardinal George agrees with the message of peace. Several reports have also shown that he disagrees with the method in which that protest was delivered.
I still fail to see the point of these folks basically preaching to the choir. Many folks, especially folks in that church, were already against the war. By protesting in this fashion, the protesters have likely turned the more moderate elements of this country against them. Sure, I know there are people who approved of this, but honestly, to rally more people to your cause, you shouldn't go into a church and do what these six did. You need more moderate folks to help your cause, and you alienated them by the protest.
It's good to see folks citing quotes and statistics on here. But, in the words of Samuel Clemens: "There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics."

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