Onward Christian Soldiers!

[unhappycamper]

Battle looms over Christian flag at public memorial in King, N.C.
October 21st, 2010 2:32 pm ET

For six years, the Christian flag flew proudly over the veterans war memorial on public property in Central Park in King, N.C., "Your Friendly Hometown" of not quite 7,000 people--no doubt every last one a good Christian.

But when a war veteran complained in September, the city council wisely realized that not all veterans, or citizens for that matter, are necessarily Christian and removed the flag.

This naturally upset the decent, Christian folk of King who have vowed to stand up for their perceived right to place their religious symbols on, not just their own, but everyone's property. This Saturday, October 23, the good Christians of King will host a rally at the memorial to speak out for the supposed right to make the country Christian. The rally, they say, is about religious freedom (theirs).

Rally participants who will come from as far away as Florida, will meet up at the Calvary Baptist Church, naturally, and march in silence to the park where they will hear speeches supporting their conviction that Christianity is America's religion and their God is America's god.

Guest speakers will include David Gibbs of the Christian Law Association (who, one would think, would know that a Christian flag on public property is a violation of the religious freedoms of every American) and Ron Baity of Return America (a revistionist history group who want to "return" America to a Christian fantasy that exists only in their dreams).



:shakingmyheadattehstupid:

[AndrewP]

1. A lot of Christians get giddy when they feel persecuted n/t

[rurallib]

3. I think they have delusions of being christian martyrs

just like in the good old days of Rome.

[hobbit709]

4. Most of them wouldn't last 5 minutes before they recanted

If they had to go through what the Romans did to the early Christians.

[JNelson6563]

7. Sadly not limited to just Christians

or just religious for that matter.

[annabanana]

2. disgusting . . . . . . n/t

[Renegades of Funk]

5. I hate that flag

I am a practicing Catholic and I saw those Tea-PArty bigots fly that flag during the Park 51 protest.

[stopbush]

12. Love the red, white & blue color scheme on that fucking flag.

Red = the bloody cross and Xianity's obsession with death and gore

Blue = the risque sex stories that litter the Bible. Remember Lot fucking his daughters?

White = the religion of white people! It's significant that 90% of the flag is taken up with the color white.

[CanonRay]

6. Who are the fools who are doing the unrecs on this?

[BolivarianHero]

8. Ahh...Good old Calvary Baptist Church

Had one of those in my hometown in Eastern Ontario...The pastor was batshit crazy and constantly wrote letters to the newspaper bashing a local Southern Baptist church (yes, in Eastern Ontario) for working on a joint community initiative with a couple of Catholic churches (my response to that letter was the first and last time that I will ever defend Southern Baptists...The circumstances were rather unique), calling Christian rock music Satanic, defending Israel using arguments based on biblical prophecy (less extreme evangelicals do this too, but they're a bit less public), and comparing homosexuality to spousal abuse and grand larceny.

Oddly enough, his son was an okay guy and a former coworker of mine...Very naive about a lot of things, but also a fellow tech geek and not particularly into his dad's brand of fundamentalism (still seems close to his family in spite of this, which is nice).

[spanone]

9. united states theocracy

[BolivarianHero]

10. Why are the nuttiest churches called Calvary Baptist?

Had one of those in my hometown in Eastern Ontario...The pastor was batshit crazy and constantly wrote letters to the newspaper bashing a local Southern Baptist church (yes, in Eastern Ontario) for working on a joint community initiative with a couple of Catholic churches (my response to that letter was the first and last time that I will ever defend Southern Baptists...The circumstances were rather unique), calling Christian rock music Satanic, defending Israel using arguments based on biblical prophecy (less extreme evangelicals do this too, but they're a bit less public), and comparing homosexuality to spousal abuse and grand larceny. Why the letters were published I never knew...I guess the editors just enjoyed watching people dismantle the argument or maybe they really were that dumb (the newspaper in question published an editorial claiming that the Conservative won a majority in the 2004 federal election when in fact the Liberals had won a plurality of the vote).

Oddly enough, his son was an okay guy and a former coworker of mine...Very naive about a lot of things, but also a fellow tech geek and not particularly into his dad's brand of fundamentalism (still seems close to his family in spite of this, which is nice).

[CRK7376]

11. Saw this article on Yahoo homepage

this morning and groaned. My parents moved from Winston-Salem, NC to King, NC when I was about to begin the 9th grade. So my high school years were spent in this small rural community. At times it was pretty painful, I liked to read, was a quiet kid, loved distance running, all things that did not fit in well in rural NC. Needless to say I survived. Graduated from the local high school, at that time only two in the county, one in the north, one in the south, and joined the Army to my parents’ dismay….After serving overseas, I returned home and went to college, became a high school history teacher and ended up teaching in my former high school for the next 13 years. Couldn’t afford to support my family teaching so I returned to the Army as an officer. The Army has been good to me, and my family still lives in the King area. When this Christian Flag issue blew up I sent the following letter to the editor of the Winston-Salem Journal. They printed it with a tad bit of editing, they took out 1st Amendment that I had copied into the letter. Not a big deal, the point still got across that I supported taking down the flag etc…What surprised me, and I guess I’m alittle naive about, was that lots of people looked us up in the phone book called and left messages on our answering machine. Most were RW garbage filled rants, several were from local (King) preachers telling me I was headed to hell etc…Some of the messages were in support of my stance. So it’s interesting to drive through King and see the world turned on its head over a flag and amendment most don’t know or understand.

My letter to the editor:

Letter to the Editor:
I vigorously support King City Council’s decision to remove the Christian flag from Veteran’s Memorial Park. My Army which I have been part of for 33 years, consists of different faiths and beliefs. I have parachuted out of airplanes, shared foxholes with, and served in combat in Afghanistan with many Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu Soldiers, all of them American. Military personal; officer and enlisted take an oath defending the Constitution of the United States including our most basic rights spelled out in the First Amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The City of King was correct taking down the Christian flag flying over Veteran’s Memorial Park. It’s upsetting for many in our area, that one voice complained about that flag, and now that flag has been removed. Now you have two voices to complain about. Walk through Arlington National Cemetery and you will find headstones of Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice that were Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Sikh, and Christian. As a nation, we allow all religions to be practiced, not just Christianity. Separation of Church and State is important to me. The City of King was correct to take down that flag. Many of you will not agree with me and that’s okay. That’s what makes America great and why I defend our country, our constitution and our right to speak out.