"I was just praying!"

[mordant]

As I mentioned some time ago, someone or something put me on Christianity Today's mailing list and I get a daily summary of articles they are publishing. Occasionally I see something that catches my interest.

Today the headline was "UK Christian Guilty in Buffer Zone Prayer Case". 

The gist of it is that the UK has buffer zones around abortion clinics as there has been violence, intimidation of patients, and other issues. People may peacefully protest outside of them, but not within them.

One has to consider the source when reading of such things, so I poked around with Google. The story, predictably, was picked up by Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Focus on the Family, and other right wing / mostly fundamentalist Christian groups with headlines like "All I Did Was Pray to God: Christian Man Convicted For Praying Silently Outside Abortion Clinic".

Finally I found a primary source citation: the BBC. And with the BBC's relatively less biased and alarmist reporting (headline: "Praying man breached abortion clinic safe zone"), the actual facts, as I suspected, were:

1) He was praying well inside the buffer zone.
2) He was asked to leave.
3) He refused, despite an HOUR AND FORTY MINUTES of gentle persuasion (and of course now claims he did not refuse to leave)

He was given a conditional two year discharge and ordered to pay more than £9,000 in court costs. The judge said his actions were "deliberate". If he repeat offends within 2 years he will do jail time.

There's some evidence he had been informing authorities of his actions ahead of time on many occasions and so probably fishing for a confrontation.

So here we have a Christian probing the boundaries of what can be got away with in breaching the "safe zone" and, as the saying goes, he "fucked around and found out".

It is not that there's necessarily something inherently wrong with that, provided he accepts the consequences of his actions. It is perfectly fine to protest abortion at a safe distance, and he was probably trying to see if silent prayer would be let slide, if THAT was considered protest ... and if THAT were let slide, doubtless, trying to strike up conversations with patients or staff coming and going, etc ("Hey, I was just saying hi and being friendly!"). This is all at least arguably supported as the right to protest and a tactical exploration of the exact limits of the law.

But no. He has to play the martyr and he has to be lionized as a martyr by Christian media and organizations and it has to be turned into "the state is persecuting us for our faith, waaahhh!"

I am really getting fed up with the martyr complex of these extremists. It is very much like unwanted proselytization, only far worse ... intimidating and guilting / shaming young girls seeking these services is, by their lights, fine if it's in the name of God. And these particular protestors have a history of escalation to physical threat. After all if you're convinced like this guy that he has to avenge his child who was aborted 20 years ago, you might well stop at nothing including physical confrontation.

Fine and dandy ... do what your conscience tells you to do, but then accept the consequences and don't try to turn it into a claim of persecution and violation of fundamental liberties, and some sort of de facto right to intimidate, harass, threaten and bully people into your beliefs.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g9kp7r00vo

[Dānu]

Hey now, that Overton window isn't gonna move itself. We must celebrate these proud frontline warriors. And if it gets them a lesser sentence, well, great!

[Paleophyte]

If it's persecution that gets him off then I can think of a few nasty little theocracies that would be more than happy to oblige.

[Minimalist]

If they hung a few of those morons they'd probably put a stop to all this shit!

[Reltzik]

Show ContentSpoiler:

Judge:  "Sir, you've been charged with burglary in the first degree.  How do you plea?"

Defendant:  "I was wearing my hat, Your Honor."

Judge:  "Your... hat?"

Defendant:  "Yessir.  It's a fez."

Judge:  "... that's very interesting, sir, but I need a plea from you.  Are you pleading guilty or not guilty to the charge?"

Defendant:  ".... I was wearing my hat, Your Honor."

Judge:  "... perhaps you do not understand the charges against you.  The state is alleging... let's see here... that during the span from 2 PM to 2:30 on October 8th, without permission from the property owners, you entered into the establishment known as Roland's Custom Jewellery by means of picking the lock on a back exit door, disabling an alarm in the process, and were apprehended, lock-picks in hand, in the process of attempting to open a safe containing over ten thousand dollars worth of gemstones with the apparent goal of theft.  If the state can prove these allegations it could constitute the crime of burglary in the first degree, which is a Class A felony punishable by-"

Defendant:  "I was wearing my fez when I did all of that, Your Honor."

Judge:  "... are you confessing to the crime and pleading guilty?"

Defendant:  "No!  Aren't you listening?  I was wearing my fez!"

Judge:  "I know I already asked this, but I need to double-check.  Have you been informed of your right to legal representation?"

Defendant:  "Yes, but I shouldn't need a lawyer, because I was wearing my fez!  How is this so difficult to understand?"

Judge:  "Sir, there is no exception in the burglary statute predicated upon-"

Defendant:  "They arrested me for wearing a fez!  WHY AM I BEING PERSECUTED JUST FOR MY HAT???"

---------

I don't know what's more depressing:  The fact that some people try this crap or the fact that a lot more buy it.

[Szuchow]

Space nazis love to feel that they're persecuted.

[Inkubus]

[pattylt]

Persecution is inherent in Christianity. From childhood they are told the stories of the early Christians being persecuted. It develops a mindset that to be a real Christian, they must suffer “in Christ” somehow.

The problem is, over 2000 years later, they are the dominant religion in the Western world, so, they have to continually manufacture persecution in order to “feel” Christian. As they see their current loss of privileged place in the more secular environment, they actualize this as persecution. Some look forward to actually being persecuted in some manner for self justification. Because we aren’t actually persecuting them, they look for any little butt hurt to claim it. Expect this to get worse before it gets better. The worst thing that can possibly happen to a Christian is becoming irrelevant.

[Dānu]

Persecution is inherent in Christianity.  From childhood they are told the stories of the early Christians being persecuted.  It develops a mindset that to be a real Christian, they must suffer “in Christ” somehow.

The problem is, over 2000 years later, they are the dominant religion in the Western world, so, they have to continually manufacture persecution in order to “fee” Christian.  As they see their current loss of privileged place in the more secular environment,  they actualize this as persecution.  Some look forward to actually being persecuted in some manner for self justification.  Because we aren’t actually persecuting them, they look for any little butt hurt to claim it.  Expect this to get worse before it gets better.  The worst thing that can possibly happen to a Christian is becoming irrelevant.

Yet another example of projection. We persecute others, so they must be persecuting us!

[Alan V]

Yet another example of projection.  We persecute others, so they must be persecuting us!

Atheists and others critiquing Christians' words and actions might feel like persecution to them because of their self-righteousness.

No wonder so many of them are attracted to authoritarians.

[Dānu]

Yet another example of projection.  We persecute others, so they must be persecuting us!

Atheists critiquing their words and actions might feel like persecution to them because of their self-righteousness.

I'm skeptical. I suspect it's more likely a side effect of ideological siloing. They can't understand why others who don't share their beliefs are against their sacred cows. So they presume that hatred rather than reason is at play.

[brewerb]

Sounds like he purchased his own cross to bear. I wonder if he'll supersize it?

[DsRed19]

This drives me crazy with these people. NO christians are NOT being persecuted in the US. They have stuck god in everything from our money to our license plates. They invade school boards and try and decide what my kids should be taught in school and in many states are successful. Persecuted my ass. I saw a great quote once that said “Your not being persecuted for following Jesus, you are being held accountable for not acting like him”. Regardless if you believe whether he even existed, the behavior of a lot of these people is in stark contrast to the Bible stories about him. But the right wingers here in the US depend on making their supporters feel like victims so they will rally behind their candidates who promise to fix things.

[mordant]

Atheists critiquing their words and actions might feel like persecution to them because of their self-righteousness.

I'm skeptical.  I suspect it's more likely a side effect of ideological siloing.  They can't understand why others who don't share their beliefs are against their sacred cows.  So they presume that hatred rather than reason is at play.

Oh sure. On another forum some Christo-Fascist claims he's being hated on every time he is, however gently, disagreed with. And he cannot (or will not) understand that people can have a different view without hating him. Which makes it hard, ironically, NOT to hate him, lol.