Neighbourhood comes together and kicks out religious haters

[meegbear]

Run time: 01:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHpiXmPWPwk   Posted on YouTube: August 23, 2010 By YouTube Member: gskelding Views on YouTube: 71644   Posted on DU: August 25, 2010 By DU Member: meegbear Views on DU: 1458

 
The commissary at Highfield Road Gospel Hall must have been fresh out of mind-your-own-business last night, because nine of God's hand-picked mouthpieces allegedly found themselves outside of the home of a Leslieville gay couple, praying for the men's unsolicited salvation.

Residents of the Dundas and Greenwood area stepped up in support of the unidentified targets, asking the holy rollers to move on and leave the neighbourhood in peace.

"We have an authority to preach the gospel," claims one worshipper in a video clip (above) captured by nearby resident Geoffrey Skelding. "We've been doing this seven years."

Though the church members didn't explicitly admit that they had chosen that particular house because it housed a gay couple, Skelding says that many street residents are convinced that's the reason, especially based on the church group's history of door-to-door evangelism on the street.

"Talking with my neighbours, I learned that a lesbian couple left the area because of this group," Skelding told Torontoist. "They do come to the area and knock on doors and tell people they are sinners."

<snip>

http://torontoist.com/2010/08/let_us_prey.php

[ejpoeta]

1. fuckin hate those kind of idiots. leave people alone. perhaps it would be better

to look at yourselves instead of worrying about others.

[ejpoeta]

2. and i am glad the neighbors told them to leave.

[ensho]

3. kick

nt

[laurel46]

4. When they bring their kids I tell the tykes hell doesn't exist.

That many church leaders trick people by using fear and they shouldn't be afraid of the hell nonsense. I tell them that many people do not believe in magic and religious fairy tales as truth and, that when they are older, they will meet many who don't believe in a mean hateful god or any god at all, but still follow the teachings of Jesus. As the parent and kid walk away, I follow to the sidewalk (I don't leave my property) and ask them to come back I really do want to talk about god. (I was so fed up with the constant weekend traffic, door bell ringing and refusal to leave after being asked politely).

They have never returned and it worked each time I moved to a new home. After seeing trauma in a family member raised by these child abuser fundamentalists, I feel it may do some good for innocent children.

[greenman3610]

5. inspiring neighborhood action

[KansDem]

6. "We don't go to your house and tell you what to believe."

Excellent comeback to their "free speech" argument! :thumbsup:

[pgodbold]

7. Hmmm .. Took the short bus home no doubt. nt

[Joanne98]

8. Those aren't prayers they're curses! BRAVO to those people for throwing them OUT!

[grantcart]

9. Gay couple is quoted defending parishoners, saying that there was a misunderstanding

From today's Toronto Star is a long article that questions most of the facts of the story.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/852019--viral-video-in-leslieville-is-not-what-it-seems?bn=1


“I don’t like how the whole issue is being distorted,” said Blair Chiasson, a civil servant who lives with his partner, Paul Collins. “Nothing happened. Nothing happened.”

He added: “I just want this to stop. Stop discussing it. Stop talking about it. It’s really kind of spiralling out of control.”

The dispute, during which a neighbour called police, involved parishioners from Highfield Road Gospel Hall, a nondenominational church of about 30.

. . .



To Chiasson, however, they are the unthreatening “church people” — and they did not do anything wrong.

Chiasson, 45, said he believes Highfield parishioners only choose to read the Bible from a spot near their house because a fire hydrant prevents cars from parking there.

He said the parishioners preached on the street long before he and Collins, 47, arrived 13 years ago. Moreover, he said, he and Collins have never felt personally targeted by the parishioners, have never heard them say anything homophobic, and have not even been present for three years on the summer Sundays when the infrequent sermons occur.

He said the parishioners are “a part of the neighbourhood” with the right to speak freely. The neighbours who confronted them, he said, “overreacted.”

“We don’t even know the people that started this,” he said. “So the people who are apparently our defenders, we don’t even know who they are.”

Prominent among them was Geoffrey Skelding, 29. Skelding, who is also gay, filmed the confrontation and uploaded it to YouTube with the title “Neighbourhood comes together and kicks out religious haters.”

Skelding, who moved to the street in January, said he did not personally hear any of the parishioners’ words and did not know whether they had said anything homophobic.





It seems like Toronto is still the tolerant and reasonable city that it has a reputation for.

[raystorm7]

10. Regardless of how it may have went down....

If any group was doing this crap on my street, preaching koolaid or something other than, they will get their ass physically thrown out. I'll give people their freedom of speech, but not the right to be a nuisance.