On Thu, 12 Dec 2002 08:39:15 EST [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Here's another article from Christianity Today. Laura > > > > Temple Square Face-off > Baptist evangelist irks LDS, but court is on his side. > By John W. Kennedy | posted 12/9/2002 > > Kurt Van Gorden, a Southern Baptist pastor, has been distributing > Bible > tracts in downtown Salt Lake City for 26 years. And as head of Utah > Gospel > Mission since 1979, Van Gorden has managed four full-time mission > workers who > regularly distribute Christian literature on sidewalks around Temple > Square. > > With more than 5 million visitors per year, the square has been > Utah's top > tourist attraction for years. Gorden says the mission sees 30 to 35 > Mormons > place their faith in Jesus every year. > > In 1999 the church paid the city $8.1 million to close a portion of > Main > Street and connect the main LDS administration building and Temple > Square. > While allowing an easement for public access on the sidewalk, the > agreement > restricted such activities as loitering, picketing, begging, using > tobacco, > and distributing literature. > > First Amendment dispute > The American Civil Liberties Union sued a year ago, and a district > court > ruling upheld the free speech limitations. The ACLU appealed, and > the Tenth > Circuit Court of Appeals accepted the case. > > Van Gorden returned to West Church Plaza last April and began > evangelizing > during the LDS semiannual General Conference. But LDS security > guards told > Van Gorden, 48, to leave the grounds or stop passing out literature. > > Van Gorden countered that he had a First Amendment right to pass out > tracts. > The security guards called police, who handcuffed Van Gorden, put > him in jail > for several hours, and fingerprinted him. The city prosecutor did > not file > charges. > > In October a three-judge panel of the Tenth Circuit Court overturned > the > lower court, saying that the city's restrictions "virtually ban > speech." Van > Gorden, who lives in Victorville, California, immediately drove 600 > miles all > night to pass out more tracts the next morning. > > The church called the decision "very troubling" and appealed to the > full > eight-member court. On November 14 the court refused the church's > appeal. > > "The word public, as used in public easement, means all Americans of > all > persuasions are free to use the plaza without checking their > religion and > speech at the threshold of a public easement," Van Gorden said in > response to > the court's decision. "The Mormon Church needs to remember that [it] > violated > the Constitution by insisting upon arresting evangelical Christians > at the > plaza, and not the reverse." > > The LDS church has also been lobbying Salt Lake City Mayor Ross > "Rocky" > Anderson, who was elected after the land deal, to drop the easement. > > Anderson, himself a lawyer and "non-participating Mormon," said he > has no > intention of doing so. > > 'Anger and resentment' > Mayor Anderson laments the agreement. He noted that six of the seven > council > members who voted on it are active LDS members. "The project was a > recipe for > greater division along religion lines," Anderson said. "You don't > sell a full > block to the city's major religion without causing a lot of anger > and > resentment."
**Blainer) Just a "two cents" worth fom me: The city approached the church first, and ASKED to sell the property, according to former Mayor Coridini. The reason for this was to add extra attraction besides the Temple Square attraction, which is a major attraction for the many tourists & visitors who descend on SL City every year, and thereby increase tourism dollars for the city's busness people. Coridini is not a Mormon at all, but had the city's interests in mind when she first made the proposal. The LDS Church lilked the idea, however. So as Coridini, said, it seemed like a "win-win" situation. > > John W. Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute in > Charlottesville, > Virginia, said municipalities may control activities such as > skateboarding, > but not free speech. "Cities and churches shouldn't want to restrict > speech > that is constitutionally protected," he said. > > According to LDS spokesman Dale Bills, the easement guarantees > pedestrian > access and passage only. He said the church paid the city to close > the street > and transfer the deed, not to ensure a free-speech zone for every > religion in > downtown Salt Lake City. > > "The plaza is meant to be a place of quiet beauty and thoughtful > reflection," > Bills told Christianity Today. "It's not a public forum." > > Van Gorden said that he and Utah Gospel Mission workers quietly go > about > their business. "We don't yell at people," he said. "We don't rebut > their > criticisms." Van Gorden said about 150 short-term missionaries from > churches > throughout the western United States also participate each year. > > Van Gorden's methods are neither helpful nor effective, said Greg C. > V. > Johnson, president of Standing Together, a two-year-old ministry > based in > Lehi, Utah. "For someone to drive all night to be the first one to > pass out > tracts is an affront to the Mormons," said Johnson, who was raised > as a > Mormon. > > Johnson said short-term outreach may boost the morale of visiting > Christian > families and students, but it doesn't build bridges for Utah > evangelicals. > Johnson, 36, a former Evangelical Free Church pastor, said > Christians need to > use a fresh approach: "In talking with Mormons, honesty and civility > lead to > relationships of integrity." > > Van Gorden doesn't understand why a religious body with 60,000 > missionaries > is so threatened by his presence. "I'm not handing out anti-Mormon > literature," he said. "My arrest was a Christian civil rights > issue." > > Copyright � 2002 Christianity Today. <A > HREF="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ctmag/features/info.html#permissio n">Click</A> > for reprint information. > > > > ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
