Church targets young skateboarders with skate park sermons

[Liberal_in_LA]

Church targets young skateboarders with skate park sermons


It was sundown in a mostly deserted parking lot tucked off Westminster Boulevard. The skateboarders had stopped, as they do every Thursday, to listen to the man with the Bible.

A single lamppost shone over the makeshift skate park, where ramps and wooden ledges sporting the words Gravity Youth covered the parking spaces. Two dozen or so skateboards lay on the ground as their owners sat on the curb. Aaron Morgan asked how many people had come for the first time. One hand shot up.

"All right, guys," Morgan said. "This is skate church, so whether you like it or not, I'm going to preach the word of God to you."

A stack of pizza boxes sat at the end of the curb, but Morgan, the youth leader at the Sanctuary in Westminster, made it clear they wouldn't be opened until he finished speaking. As the sky went from hazy to dark, he held forth about hypocrisy, free will, Jesus' sacrifice and the perils of apathy.



http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/church-targets-young-skateboarders-sanctuary-westminster.html

[RKP5637]

1. They're like a virus. n/t

[Taverner]

6. Yep

[piratefish08]

2. sick is the only word i can think of.

and sad.

okay 2 words.......

[Marrah_G]

3. I raised my children to walk away if anyone ever starts preaching to them

They aren't to argue, debate or otherwise engage the person, just turn around and walk away.

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. Good way for them to avoid any idea they don't like

[Fumesucker]

15. People who walk up to you on the street and try to get you to change religion are sick at best..

They have the right to do it, I have the right to think they're crazy and instruct my children that they should avoid obviously crazy people.

[Marrah_G]

17. Good way for them to avoid conflict with unstable people.

My boys come from a pagan home, a GBLT home. I think I know what is best for my sons welfare.

[Warren DeMontague]

39. Sorry, with delusional schizophrenics and others who think they have magic invisible friends

it's usually better to cut them off before they waste your time with their insane, idiotic babbling.

[LynneSin]

25. Which is why they put the Pizza out there and won't let anyone have it until they are done

Maybe your kid is strong enough to walk away but most aren't

[Liberal_in_LA]

38. teens love the pizza.

[southernyankeebelle]

4. This reminds me of how they got the Hitler youths organized. Bring

the activities kids love to do and food and bam you got them. They couldn't get them any other way.

[RKP5637]

Yeah, similar tactics, youth camps ... we have church camps for indoctrination. See signs

up here all summer long...

[Newest Reality]

5. Well, like it or not,

saving your Soul involves PIZZA! Hey, there is some good intent there and somebody is paying attention to the young people.

That reminds me of the story of a missionary who was preaching the Bible to Inuits. One of the tribe members approached him and spoke.

"So, if I did not know about sin and God and Jesus, would I go to Hell?"

"Why no, my Son. If you didn't know this, then you would not go to Hell."

"Then why did you tell me?" The Inuit man replied.

[Obamanaut]

9. Back in biblical times loaves of bread and fish were involved, probably

due to the absence of pizza.

[Liberal_in_LA]

36. lol n/t

[Jazzgirl]

13. Newest.....I am still crackin' up!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[piratefish08]

7. Everything's Ridiculous - Joe Rogan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcIsvSUwTsc

[BadgerKid]

10. There's nothing in the book about skateboarding.

:sarcasm:

[Divine Discontent]

11. well, they don't have to sit and listen to him. but there's pizza man! lol

kids will stand and listen to horrible music and no one stops them, they'll play violent games on their phones and PSP's and no one stops them. If a person talks to them about God, that should be something a parent has discussed with them about what to do if a stranger approaches them. I think it's important every parent teach their child what is okay to be a part of if they're interested in listening to it, and they look old enough to be out on their own as their parent sees fit, so... maybe they really thought the street preacher was interesting to listen to? yes, there's pizza, but they could still say, thanks man but I'd rather skate! I just wonder the message he's giving. From the short synopsis above it sounds good, but that's another problem - what is the message? If it's some fundamentalist extremist dude, what a sad message they're hearing! ha. It sounds like standard accountability stuff mixed with Jesus died for your sins.

God bless 'em, and I pray the pizza was worth the wait.



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[RKP5637]

14. Let's hope it wasn't Godfather's Pizza. LOL I hear it's horrible, never had it ... n/t

[zbdent]

35. Injury on top of insult ...

I wonder if this guy forcing HIS views upon these kids has views that coincide with the parents' values ...

I doubt it ...

[MattBaggins]

20. And the flipside. If I as an Atheist

did the same bringing drinks and pizza to a local park and enticed kids to sit and listen to a lecture and reason and rational thought and told them there are no invisible creatures in the sky; how long would it take for the townfolks to come after me with torches?

[MattBaggins]

23. Simple solution to this... Does he have a permit for those pizzas?

How do we know he hasn't drugged them. If I sat down at the local park giving out candy, the police would be having a word with me in a heartbeat.

This guy might be trying to groom some victims(I would suggest that is exactly what he is doing). He ought to be watched and investigated.


Edit: oops replied to myself. Talking to myself again it seems.

[Divine Discontent]

31. good point. I'd want to know his name and such if I was there watching my nephew or something, and

I'd listen to him. But, yeah, where I'm at you have to have a permit to hand out food like that. I know it's very unlikely, but he could be poisoning it, or putting sleeping meds in it. Hopefully, the guy means well, like most do. I would just keep an eye on anyone approaching youth in that manner, and he should be wise enough not to get too close to them since they're strangers to him, and he to them. Any mature adult should understand that.

[Divine Discontent]

29. should they come after you? no. should they come after him? no.

it's a valid point. and it sucks, I know. even though I believe Jesus Christ loves every one of his children, I know that there are extremists who would attack someone doing what you said.

There's some argument here, also, that what he's doing is improper. I mean, I've taught youth group/school before, for many years, but I would not be so keen on some random guy approaching kids telling them his views with the promise of pizza if they'll listen. I'd want to hear what he's saying, too.

The defense of that is, if the parents have them roaming around on their own, they can make up their own mind what they want to listen to. We know that many of these people who do what he's doing have a right wing slant, typically, to their beliefs. That's what I've seen, at least. Also, being Gay I thought of this, what if a gay guy went and talked at length to a group of anonymous kids about accepting others and not bullying them for being different when they saw one kid start attacking another for being gay, or "appearing" gay? Screw the torches, they'd bring rifles to shoot at the queer trying to indoctrinate the kids when the only thing being done is an adult telling children to respect others. So, yeah, I know what you mean, and it's a shame, but that's what happens when we try and use words to educate that everyone deserves the right to believe, and speak their opinions - some get scared and violence ensues.

[piratefish08]

12. why doesn't God give him the courage to wander into a construction site with pizzas and a sermon?

because he's get his ass kicked and go home pizza-less........


i see this as preying on the weak and defenseless.

[HappyMe]

16. While it may not be the absolute best

thing, it's better than the kids getting involved in gangs.

[Marrah_G]

18. I don't think that has to be the choice.

I would prefer my kids be involved in neither. In my humble opinion the groups that do this are hate groups and they are out recruiting more kids for their hate group.

[HappyMe]

24. In a fair amount of inner city neighborhoods

there aren't any choices.

The article said that the boys were already members of the church and brought their friends. As far as it being a 'hate' group, I don't know. I don't know any more about the church than was posted in the article.

[Marrah_G]

26. Generally the ones who do this are evangelical

We are a Pagan, gblt family- To us they are hate groups.

http://mysanctuarychurch.com/pastors/jay-haizlip/

700 club, focus on the family...etc etc

[piratefish08]

19. so these kids that were skateboarding would have ended up in gangs if it hadn't been for uninvited

preaching and pizza?

how the hell did you make THAT leap?

[leftyohiolib]

32. uninvited? it's his church,and it uses events like the Thursday skate park to attract youth.

[msongs]

22. umm he is a gang nt

[Downwinder]

21. Don't see any safety equipment in the picture.

Save your soul, to hell with the body.

[former9thward]

28. Methinks you have never been on a skate board.

No one wears safety equipment skating.

[Marrah_G]

33. Which gives us the enjoyment of watching them ....

...on TSG- world's dumbest, Tosh.0 and It only hurts when I laugh :)

[LynneSin]

27. I have no problem with this however I don't think any child should be allowed in there...

without first providing a permission slip from their parents.

One thing is true - kids love to skateboard and sometimes there aren't enough parks out there for the kids especially since a good skateboard park should carry some sort of insurance incase of emergecy. With state & city funds dwindling, it's nice that the Church is picking up on this. Here in Delaware they found cheap land no one would want - mainly underneath the I95 underpass (gives the kids a roof over their head too).

But they should require that parents sign permission slips and the the notice should inform parents that this is a church run organization and that preaching will occur at certain times during the day.

If I had a kid I would have no problem with them using this but if I knew they were preaching at the same time everyday I'd be there 5 minutes before to pick up my kid and take them home.

[RockaFowler]

30. Doesn't Stephen Baldwin do this, too??

[Initech]

34. I was in a church that used to pull crap like this all time. Not surprised at all.

[Liberal_in_LA]

37. organizations that feed the homeless use to force them to listen to sermons before eating

Maybe they still do.