22,000 Evangelical Christian teens openly gather at "BattleCry" to claim they're oppressed

[Ian David]

Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, March 10, 2007

(03-10) 20:20 PST -- More than 22,000 evangelical teenagers prayed, sang and screamed at AT&T Park today during BattleCry - a mix of pep rally, rock concert and church service.


BattleCry leads to Heaven. Just put on the jumpsuits, drink the kool-aid, and wait for the comet.

BattleCry's founder, Ron Luce, believes teens are incessantly barraged by sex, violence and immorality and that they need to create a Christian alternative. Today, he showed the possibilities.


We're all wrapped-up in Noah's Rainbow, as a symbol of God's promise to find new and exciting ways to kill us all next time. Drowning is so 2448 BC.


I hear Jesus talking to me through the static of my shortwave radio! He says to prepare the Earth for our Mooninite Liberators!

Several popular Christian bands, including POD, Casting Crowns and Unhindered, sang rock songs with choruses such as "I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross." A Christian comedian delivered stand-up lines. The crowd did call-and-response chants about Jesus, using the rhythms normally found at a Giants game.


The word of God also makes a convenient coaster.

"We will not allow the enemy to steal this generation," Luce said.



Help, help! We're being oppressed! Come see the violence inherent in the system!

<snip>

In the concourses inside AT&T Park, BattleCry workers sold everything from $40 sweatshirts to $15 music CDs. They also sold a $65 multimedia package with Luce's book and six DVDs to teach pastors how to "double" the size of their youth groups.

{See: John 2:16 "Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise." http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/jn/2.html }


Please Jesus, strike that Asian kid behind me with blindness. What the-- I meant BOTH eyes, dammit!

<snip>

Walid Shoebat, a self-proclaimed "former Islamic terrorist," said that Islam was a "satanic cult" and described how he eventually accepted Jesus into his heart. Tim Scott spoke about traveling throughout the world as a missionary.








"Our whole purpose is to bring Christ Jesus to those who've never heard his name," Scott said.

{See" (Matthew 6:5-6) 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/mt/6.html ]



More:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/10/BAG63OJ6V43.DTL


Yes, I know... some of those photos (and all of the captions) were not included in the original article.

[Warpy]

1. All I can think of with that second picture is

a gay pride parade in Podunk. I guess I'll go to hell for that one.

The rest of the pics just look like garden variety white power/skinhead groups.

[katsy]

2. Iraq should set them free.

Make the poor misunderstood, oppressed little darlins' enlist.

loosers.

[Prophet 451]

3. It is a uniquely fundie phonomenon

Believing oneself oppressed while actually being in power is something I have never seen in anyone other than American Xian fundies.

[MADem]

4. Noah's rainbow, eh? I thought it was a Gay Pride Parade snapshot!

But hey, whatever. Let them whine all the want. Freedom of speech includes freedom to be annoying and insufferable twits, I guess...

[Ian David]

6. Actually, it was a photo from a gay pride parade that I snuck in.

It would be deceptive of me, except that I thought it was so obvious, nobody would be deceived.

[MADem]

7. Well, I am an old fart. Clueless in the world of modern iconic imagery~! What the hell do I know?

I've given up on trying to figure out what stuff means. Tattoos, colors, piercings, you name it...I let it all pass me by, because I always seem to get it wrong~~~!!!!

Bright spot, since I don't worry about these fashion (or otherwise) statements any more, my life is easier!

[Ian David]

11. Fundies "taking back the rainbow"

See:

Filthy Rainbow-Stealing Gays
| posted by Shakespeare's Sister | Monday, December 18, 2006

THE RAINBOW HAS BECOME an iconic image for gay rights, representing diversity and unity. But owners of a web-based Christian business believe what they say is its true meaning of holiness has been lost to homosexuals promoting "perversion" and are now their own rainbow wares as a way to reclaim the rainbow as a solely conservative Christian symbol.

Business is, of course, the operative word here. As I've vociferously complained previously, hate-mongering against the LGBT community sponsored by Gun-Toting Jesus Brand Religious Intolerance Righteousness is a massive cash cow: "Millions and millions of dollars are raised every year by people professing to preach The Word in exchange for a few dollars (and a few more, and a few more) in the collection baskets, but all they’re really doing is selling a product—a way to cope with a changing world that robs bigots of their undeserved dominion, that tells them they really, at long last, must share equality with non-Christians, the LGBT community, strong women, minorities, and immigrants in the public sphere. They are losing control they were never meant to have, and Christianity 2.0 sells them the righteous anger and victimhood they need. In these desperate people, the hate peddlers have found a ripe market for their wares. The hungry buyers come to the churches and the political rallies with money burning holes in the pockets of their sensible trousers, and they leave satiated, their bellies full of (self-)righteous indignation, with a determination to spread the word about the radical homosexual and feminist agendas, and a keen eye for the slightest proof that their suspicions about the dastardly fags and feminazis and liberals and brown people who threaten their way of life are all true. This is a booming business, and Falwell, Dobson, and Robertson have learned to roll out their product as efficiently as Ford and his Model-Ts. … Hate, like anything else in the American capitalist utopia, can be a splendid business, as long as there are enough interested buyers with cash in hand—and hate flogged under the auspices of religion has the added bonus of being a tax-free enterprise. It’s no surprise that Christ-cloaked bigotry is a booming industry."

And so Take Back Our Rainbow, Inc. has set up shop in the bustling marketplace already built and servicing a primed, cash-in-hand market who are always looking for new ways to spend their money to prove their piety.

Take Back Our Rainbow Inc. sells car magnets, bookmarks and bracelets emblazoned with the "Take Back Our Rainbow" logo. The group claims gay organizations have stolen the rainbow and are "using a holy symbol to promote that (gay) lifestyle."

"We are a company that believes it is time to take a stand for our beliefs and we are asking all Christians to do the same," the business’s website reads. "Let’s all stand up and take our rainbow back. Those who choose to pervert this holy symbol may have well taken the cross or the Christian Fish (symbol). They may soon do this because we are doing nothing to stop the use of our symbols for perversion."

So much execrable nonsense, just like any one of hundreds of similar faith-based business endeavors. The rainbow is a naturally-occurring phenomenon, not a built symbol like the cross or the fish. Even if one believes every rainbow is hand-crafted by the Almighty, he puts them over San Francisco, too.

And, by the by, in all my very gay-filled days, I've never been under the impression that the LGBT community had appropriated the rainbow to "promote that lifestyle," but to illustrate quite cleverly the spectrum of human experience of which they are an unfairly marginalized part. I always felt like I am part of that rainbow, too, as is anyone who celebrates difference, rather than exploiting it for tiresome, loathsome hate-mongering.

More:
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2006/12/filthy-rainbow-stealing-gays.html

[MADem]

12. How long before they try to swipe that pink triangle back, too?

What a bunch of childish dolts!

When they start picking and pecking over imagery, they've got...well...nuthin'.

Nuthin' worth wasting your time on, anyway!

But hey, if there ARE any rainbow signs with that "Take back the rainbow" shit on them that I come across, I swear, I'll go buy me some pink paint and paint a triangle on them, just to be a contrary cuss!

[MuseRider]

8. Well you never know

take a look at the signs that the Phelps group carry. Good one, I like it! Noah's rainbow, made me smile!

[Ian David]

10. Some of the anti-gay bigots go to rallies holding signs that say things like...

"Give us back our rainbow," or somesuch nonsense.

[Tom Joad]

5. Tonight Rightwing Christian militarist to keynote AIPAC conference

and your congress critter may be there.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x390302

[xchrom]

9. jesurtainment -- it's a booming business.

[madrchsod]

13. field trip this summer !!!

going to lovely sun drenched--ROMANIA!

http://www.globalexpeditions.com/projects.php?ProjectName=Romania
Global Expeditions - Romania

what a fun trip with a bunch of crazy christian kids...

[LiberalFighter]

14. Wouldn't Luce's book be Lucifer's Book?

Right after the 5th picture.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. It's pretty funny, really.

Because this world has become so evil, and children are so often faced with the insidious power of marketing and consumerism, the answer is obviously to market to them very expensive tickets so as to apply their own particular brand of insidious power to the indoctrination of youth.

[struggle4progress]

16. A page o'links from Acquire The Evidence

http://www.acquiretheevidence.com/reading/

[Ian David]

18. Thanks!

I'm going to post THIS one in it's own thread:


FAITH'S BATTLEFIELD
S.F. event designed to get teens energized about evangelical Christianity divides believers with its combative language and emphasis on culture war

Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, Chronicle Religion Writer
Thursday, March 8, 2007

Pop culture faces a controversial assault in San Francisco this weekend when Ron Luce aims to bring 22,000 evangelical Christian teenagers closer to Jesus through a rock concert, City Hall rally and other events.

<snip>

Some evangelical Christians are skeptical, questioning whether the events do more harm than good -- and whether the inspiration they offer really lasts. Several Bay Area evangelical Christian pastors said they found Luce's BattleCry event to be more superficial than spiritual, more spectacle than sustenance for faith.

<snip>

Some pastors said Luce is as guilty of promoting consumerism as the culture he criticizes because Teen Mania sells T-shirts and other merchandise. Luce said the difference between consumerism and Teen Mania's merchandising is that his products are being sold with a Christian intent.

"Kids are going to buy stuff," said Luce, whose nonprofit organization rakes in $23 million a year and pays him roughly $145,000 a year. "Why not have stuff they can buy that can actually help them?"

Last year's BattleCry triggered a verbal brawl between several San Francisco politicians and some BattleCry participants, including some teenagers. The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution condemning Teen Mania, and Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said BattleCry participants are "loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco."

More:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/03/08/MNGCROHIP31.DTL

[saltpoint]

17. I like the inclusion of the Matthew 6:5-6 passage. Fundies HATE that

passage.

Especially when they're out in droves on the nation's streets braying like jackasses about Jesus.

Some of these youngfolk look a bit wet behind the ears to be out dispensing worldly (or otherworldly) advice.

And especially in San Francisco.

They're in over their heads and need to get home and make an individual decision for their own lives not to let smarmy youth ministers do their thinking for them.

And the next time they're in the Bay Area I hope they show it a lot more respect than they have on this trip.

[NMMNG]

19. Nothing like a crowd of 22,000 gathering together to complain about how oppressed they are.

Especially considering how that 22,000 is but a mere fraction of the whole.

[Rob H.]

20. This is OT, but...

I really like your sig line. :) :thumbsup:

[NMMNG]

22. Thanks

:hi:

[and-justice-for-all]

21. Hahaha!!! SUCKERS!!!!

their jeebus is making someone(s) RICH! rich for jeebus!

Oppressed my ass! No one is making them watch Television. Dont they have like 4 networks now? Cult TV anyone.

With all those folks in one spot, they should've had a Jim Jones event.