Contrary to LDS opinion there is NO SUCH THING as a "Free Speech PERMIT"
True separation of Church & State precludes government from favoring one religion over another.
Blaine Borrowman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Blaine Borrowman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
----- Original Message -----From: Kevin DeeganSent: Friday, February 13, 2004 3:48 PMSubject: [TruthTalk] street preachers/free speechKevin writes:LDS church wants Salt lake City to favor one religion over another.Blaine: Is that your conclusion from reading this? It sounds to me like they (the LDS Church) are desperate to get away from the uncalled for and unasked for preaching of the street preachers, who deem it their right to harrass decent people whose only objective is to attend a worship service and partake of the Lord's spirit, and listen to their prophets encourage living Christian, honorable lives. The street preachers are the ones showing their obviously bigoted favoritism to their own religion over that of the Saints. This is, as I have said before, the pot calling the kettle black, Kevin. In almost every post you have written lately, you accuse LDS people of doing exactly what you and your fellow street preachers are doing.Protesters should stay at distance, LDS says
By Heather May
The Salt Lake Tribune
LDS Church officials say they support the right of street preachers to speak out against their religious beliefs. But they want more safeguards -- including a buffer zone separating protesters and church members -- during the church's general conferences in downtown Salt Lake City.
The next conference is in April. Church leaders say they will advise the 100,000 faithful who are expected to attend the two-day gathering at the Conference Center to ignore the protesters.
But church officials still fear there could be confrontations like those at October's conference -- or worse. In the fall, preachers demonstrated using LDS garments, which Mormons consider sacred. Two church members were arrested afte! r trying to take the clothing from the protesters.
In a December letter to City Hall -- obtained this week through a records request -- church attorney Von Keetch offers four suggestions as the city revises its free-speech ordinance. He cites numerous court cases from other cities or similar practices of other government agencies during large-scale events as justification.
They include separating anti-church preachers from their counter-protesters, keeping all demonstrators about 20 yards from Conference Center entrances but within earshot and eyesight of conferencegoers, further restricting noise levels and requiring permits for all demonstrations.
The church did not ask the city to stop protesters from demonstrating with LDS garments or from calling conferencegoers "whores" or "harlots" -- actions that have occurred and could be considered unconstitutional "fighting words" in certain contexts, according to church! and city attorneys.
"It has become clear that certain individuals are intent less on expressing a message than on engaging in provocative conduct (such as the desecration of LDS temple clothing) for the specific purpose of inciting an outraged and even violent response from listeners," Keetch writes. "If the city fails to take appropriate action to regulate this situation, unfortunate consequences seem inevitable."
The church is concerned about tightly packed sidewalks and the chance that protesters, conferencegoers or counter-protesters could be moved to violence.
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City Attorney Ed Rutan says the church raises legitimate concerns, but the suggestions won't appear in the proposed speech ordinance or in guidelines for police who patrol the sidewalks during conference.
"They are concerns the city is appropriately addressing or has the capability to appropriately address," Rutan says.
Lonnie Pursifull, , one of the street preachers, says the church's suggestions cannot be applied to them because they are exercising their religion, not speech. "We will not be put in a box. The Mormon Church is trying to do everything in its power to stop us from exposing them."
As for any violence, he blames conference attendees and says he has been accosted by them. "We don't get violent. We've never hit nobody. We've never assaulted nobody."
That is largely why the city hesitates to separate the preachers from church! members. Instead, the city has implemented "no-standing zones" in the high-traffic areas for conferencegoers. Demonstrators can be there, but cannot interfere with pedestrian flow.
The church memo cites cases in which buffer zones around abortion clinics -- to keep demonstrators some distance from women using the clinic -- have been upheld.
But Rutan says LDS conference is different. "You do not have situations where the speakers themselves have physically assaulted the listeners in the past, as you do in the abortion cases. . . . If the speakers have been in full compliance with the law, then you're not really in the position where you can justify any significant restrictions on the exercise of their speech."
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LDS Church's suggestions to regulate protests on public sidewalks near the Conf! erence Center in Salt Lake City during the general conferences:
* Separate anti-church preachers and protesters from the growing ranks of people who demonstrate against them.
* Keep all demonstrators about 20 yards from the entrances and confined to a certain area. "There are no appropriate sites for a demonstration zone on the sidewalks in the vicinity of the main entrances to the Conference Center," says the church.
* Further restrict noise levels. The church contends that one woman has suffered hearing loss from passing by preachers or demonstrators.
* Require permits for all protests and preclude spontaneous free-_expression_ activities during events attracting large crowds. The city already requires permits for planned demonstrations.
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