The Free Exercise Clause

On December 18,2004 I posted about Christians who were arrested on October 10 for praying, singing, and reading scripture during an annual 'gay pride' event known as 'Outfest' in Philadelphia. The members of the group were charged with three felony (criminal conspiracy, ethnic intimidation, and riot) and five misdemeanor charges.
According to a letter I received from the American Family Association, "they are part of Repent America. Along with founder Michael Marcavage, members of Repent America—with police approval--were preaching near Outfest, a homosexual event, handing out Gospel literature and carrying banners with Biblical messages.

When they tried to speak, they were surrounded by a group of radical homosexual activists dubbed the Pink Angels. A videotape of the incident shows the Pink Angels interfering with the Christians’ movement on the street, holding up large pink symbols of angels to cover up the Christians' messages and blowing high pitched whistles to drown out their preaching."


UPDATE


TUPELO, Mi., January 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A source from the U.S. Justice Department reported to WorldNetDaily that homosexual attorneys from the U.S. Justice Department Civil Rights Division attended a homosexual event called "OutFest" in Philadelphia last October and advised police who arrested 11 Christians at the event.

After a judge saw video footage of four of the Christians quoting Bible verses, they were bound for trial and now face up to 47 years in prison. They were charged with three felony (criminal conspiracy, ethnic intimidation, and riot) and five misdemeanor charges while the city of Philadelphia has labeled the Bible as hate speech.

According to the WorldNetDaily report, the DOJ attorneys may have recommended to police that the Christians be charged with "ethnic intimidation" under Pennsylvania's new "hate crimes" law. The DOJ employee who spoke to WorldNetDaily on condition of anonymity says that, due to the homosexual U.S. attorneys' involvement, it is unlikely the DOJ will take up the cause of those now facing criminal charges.

Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the AFA Center for Law & Policy, defends the arrested Christians and says the report of DOJ attorneys' involvement on the scene should trouble all who are following the case.

"This case is historic for all the wrong reasons, and now it turns out that Department of Justice attorneys attended 'Outfest' and may have advised the city on what charges to bring," Fahling said. "I am stunned."

"It has been made abundantly clear that my clients will never get justice from Philadelphia, and now it looks like they won't get it out of Washington, D.C. either. This is not an erosion of our rights under the Constitution; it is an earthquake that has swallowed them whole."

Fahling is asking the DOJ to open a criminal probe into the case.

"I believe the only way to overcome that possible bias is to get a public outcry on such a scale that it cannot be ignored by those higher up in the Department," Fahling said."

A petition to the DOJ is available at LINK

World Net Daily posts an article written by David Kupelian regarding the so called separation of church and state, the congressional record regarding the phrasing and intended interpretation of the "Establishment clause" as well as the "Free Exercise clause".
LINK