Friday, February 9, 2007

Gideons Arrested for Distributing Bibles on Public Sidewalk

Speaking of religious intolerance, those grandmothers may have to make room in their cell if a case against two members of Gideon's International succeeds. Last month, Ernest Simpson and Anthony Mirto were peacefully distributing Bibles to students outside of Florida's Key Largo School, and despite the fact that the two men never stepped on school property, the principal called police. When officers asked the men to leave or face trespassing charges, Simpson and Mirto agreed to go --but apparently not fast enough to suit police, who arrested them anyway. Our good friends at the Alliance Defense Fund have offered to represent the men, stating, "Officials cannot use fear of arrest as a means of bullying law-abiding Christians into silence." The real trespass here is the one the school committed on the right to free speech. (Family Research Council)