-California: Christians Arrested for Reading the Bible in Public Found ‘Not Guilty’
by Dr. D ~ August 15th, 2013
(Photo credit: knowhimonline)
In April 2011 several Christians were arrested for reading the Bible out loud in front of a California DMV office in Hemet CA. Here’s a link to my original article on this story.
Now a judge has found them ‘not guilty’ of the charges that they were do so without a necessary permit. Here’s the updated story from the Blaze:
Two Christians who were arrested and charged after reading the Bible outside of a DMV location in Hemet, Calif., have been found not guilty. As TheBlaze previously reported, Mark Mackey, 60, a member of Reconciled Christian Fellowship and Pastor Bret Coronado, 44, were facing misdemeanor charges after reading the gospel outside of the public building back in 2011.
The men have now been cleared of these charges, according to the Advocates for Faith and Freedom, a non-profit law firm that represented them. On Tuesday, a judge ruled in favor of Mackey and Coronado, as prosecutors failed to prove that the men needed a permit before reading the Bible to a line of people waiting outside of the DMV (they were charged under a trespassing law).
Response: This is what I said at the time in my original article and it is still poignant to this case and outcome:
This is a chilling example of a new trend in America. The First Amendment was designed to protect the freedom of religion and religious practice in this country. However, lately the ‘separation of church and state’ has come to mean to many in authority that religion is to be restricted when it comes to the public square –exactly opposite of the original intent of the writers of the Constitution.
We are now seeing our religious freedoms being chipped away. Lately street preachers have been arrested all around this country and home Bible studies have been shut down. Schools are now told by the ACLU that they will be sued if they even mention Christian holidays anymore.
All of the above are overturned when legally challenged but government officials and police continue to assert authority they don’t really have in this area. Most of the time unfortunately it goes unchallenged. Our rights are being stood on their ear and one wonders what it will be like in this country in 20 or 30 years if it keeps on going like it is?
