Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Which nation persecutes Bible distributors?

The Bible Belt Blog gives us this bit of trivia:
Earlier this year, two men standing on a public sidewalk were arrested for passing out Bible within 500 feet of a school. The nation has laws guaranteeing freedom of religion for its citizens, human rights observers say, although critics say these rights are sometimes ignored. The arrests took place in A.) Iran, B.) The People's Republic of China, C.) Saudi Arabia, D.) Russia, E.) The Vatican, F.) The United States.
Well, Turkey's not on the list, so it must be ... the United States. So obvious you never would have guessed it, right? Here's the scoop from the Alliance Defense Fund:
PLANTATION KEY, Fla. — A judge dismissed all charges Friday against two members of The Gideons International who were arrested while attempting to distribute Bibles on a public sidewalk outside Key Largo School. Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman represented the two men.

"Christians cannot be treated as second-class citizens," said Cortman. "These two men have the same constitutional rights as everyone else to pass out literature on a public sidewalk. We are pleased that the court agrees that these men should not have been arrested and dismissed the charges against them."

OK, this certainly was a ridiculous case the government tried to level, but give me a break. When was the last time Christians were treated as "second-class citizens" in the western world. Such rhetorical dishonesty only discredits complaints about real discrimination when it does occur.

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