Monday and Wednesday of last week, members of a group called the "Call to Repentance" staged anti-gay and anti-abortion protests at People's Park on Kirkwood Avenue. The group, affiliated with the Old Paths Baptist Church in Campbellsburg, Ind., was met with opposition as outraged IU students and community members showed their disapproval by forming anti-protests. One counterprotester was arrested on Monday after pushing a member of "Call to Repentance." Last Friday afternoon, an anti-hate group, Bloomington United, took to the streets to stir up support for their cause. They talked to the community and urged businesses to put up Bloomington United signs. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Student Support Services; the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA); and other organizations also participated in the protests. We support Bloomington United in its effort to protest these protesters. The "Call to Repentance" group does have the right to spread their beliefs and to practice free speech, but we feel that the way they protested, with hate speech and signs that say such things as "God hates Catholics," is not how they should prove their point. How do they expect people to listen to them and try to accept what they have to say when they were hardly willing to listen to other points of view while protesting? Protester Kelly White told the IDS that, "Bloomington is the fag capital. We came to protest sin in every form that we know and to tell people that Jesus Christ can't save you from your sins." However, another protester, Wes Neill, was handing out protest booklets that urged people to accept Christ. The booklets such as "Sin City" said things such as "It's now time to make your choice. If you do nothing, you'll remain a condemned child of Satan … and one heartbeat from hell." But White said Jesus Christ can't save you from your sins. The statements of the protesters seem to be contradictory to the message the booklets are giving. The controversial protests last week were legal and the group members had a right to speak their minds. We applaud any effort to exercise First Amendment rights, but we think the "Call to Repentance" contradicted themselves. They went about it the wrong way by using hate speech.
yes - no - abstain
