"Bash Back" Gay Activists Disrupt Michigan Church Service

There are surprisingly few news articles that cover the gay protesters' invasion of a church service in Lansing, Michigan. (It might be better to hire some folks to pose as Christian "homophobes". Then they could stage an invasion of a Bash Back meeting, and guarantee worldwide news coverage for weeks to come.)

The Bulletin in Philadelphia seems to want to blame churches anyway, with the headline "Prop 8 Protests Against Mormons, Other Churches Get Ugly":

A group of about 30 gay rights activists from the group "Bash Back!" stormed into Mount Hope Church in Lansing, Mich. and unfurled a large rainbow flag at the pulpit. The group had also tried to disrupt the Mass by banging on cans and shouting, "Jesus was a homo."
"This is urban fascism come to America's heartland. It must be quickly stopped before it gets out of control," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League.

But while Mount Hope represents the anomaly of the weekend's protests, it testifies to the fact that the referendum's annulment of the California Supreme Courts redefinition of marriage has created serious aftershocks outside of California.

"We live in a free country, and someone has the right to protest whatever they feel is necessary to protest," said Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International. Mr. Chambers supported Prop 8 and understood protests are the natural outgrowth of supporting controversial measures.

Mr. Chambers, however, argued the protests were beginning to cross the line and were adopting an unfortunate tone.

"I do think they are crossing the line," Mr. Chambers said, adding such a development is ironic because gay protesters usually describe supporters of traditional marriage as "intolerant, hateful and bigoted."

"They are being more hateful, more intolerant and more bigoted than groups like ours have ever been. People of faith have a right to their opinion and have a right to believe what they believe."

(I'm still trying to figure out what is meant by 'churches get ugly'. Maybe it's 'ugly' to object to protesters storming your worship service.)

The Catholic News Agency's has further details:

[The] group on Sunday disrupted services at a Michigan Assemblies of God-affiliated church, throwing fliers, shouting slogans at churchgoers, and kissing each other.

David Williams, communications director at the church and son of its pastor Dave Williams, said their slogans included phrases like “It's OK to be gay” and claims that Jesus was homosexual, the Lansing State Journal reports.

Actually, the Lansing State Journal reported Williams' description this way:

Protesters who entered the Creyts Road church along with worshippers surprised the congregation when they stood up during the service, threw fliers at churchgoers and shouted slogans such as "It's OK to be gay," and "Jesus was a homo," according to David Williams, communications director at the church.

CNA:

During the disruption, another group of protesters demonstrated outside the church. The outside protesters left peacefully when someone on the pastoral team told them they were not welcome on church property.

Williams said in a statement that churchgoers were unclear what the purpose of the demonstration was ...

(Well, it did demonstrate that they can disrupt your church service, and you might have gotten a little inkling on their attitude toward your freedom to worship.)

... A report on the Bash Back group’s web site claimed credit for the protest. It described the outside protesters as a small group dressed in pink and black equipped “with a megaphone, black flags, picket signs and an upside-down pink cross.”

“The group was extremely loud and wildly offensive,” the web site said, describing the outside protest as meant to distract the church’s guards.

According to the web site, a fire alarm was pulled and protesters of the same sex “began making out in front of the pastor.”

Fortunately, no one was hurt, despite the implications of the photo of the protesters wearing masks and carrying clubs, and this from their own website. (Photo at CNA.)

The church, by the way, did demonstrated their "ugliness" by refusing to press charges.


(See this video also: Breitbart.tv, The B-Cast: Gay Anarchist Explains Tactics in Disruption of Service at ‘Anti-Queer’ Church)