Pride Event Arrest: They're Winning, Sanity's Losing

A man was arrested at a Reading, Pennsylvania, Pride event over the weekend for attempting to read a Bible verse. Unlike the leader at the event, he had no bullhorn, no PA system.

The man, identified as Damon Atkins, had only his voice and his Bible, and was also across the street from the rally, held outside of City Hall.

When the arresting officer stopped him, Atkins responded, "This is public property." The officer agreed but told him to "let them have their day," and "respect it." As the officer began walking away, Atkins told him, "So you do you, and I'm gonna do me."

Then Atkins shouted, "You!" to the crowd across the street, and started reading the verse again. He only uttered the first three words, "God is not ..." before the officer turned and said, "That's it. You're done," and placed him under arrest.

The attendees at the Pride event cheered and applauded.

Matthew Wear, who recorded the exchange on cellphone video, can be heard saying, "sheer tyranny."

A criminal complaint was obtained by The Lancaster Patriot, which was filed by Police Sgt. Bradley T. McClure, the arresting officer.

It indicates that Atkins "resumed yelling derogatory comments to the people at the event."

It's unclear how shouting "You!" and saying "God is not" are either "yelling" or "derogatory," but that's for a judge and jury to decide at a later date.

The complaint continued, "Because I had already given him warning, I immediately told him he was being arrested for disorderly conduct. Officer Dupree and I handcuffed him escorted him away from the location to await transport to Central Processing."

According to court documents The Lancaster Patriot obtained, Atkins was charged with "Disorderly Conduct Engage in Fighting."

"Fighting?" Doesn't Pennsylvania support the "sticks and stones" rule?

The full verse that Atkins was attempting to recite was from 1 Corinthians 14:33, which goes, "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord's people."

But because it was, after all, a Pride event, a more appropriate passage might have been Deuteronomy 22:5, which reads "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination unto the Lord thy God."

But the real question is: How far will we be taking this nonsense?

In September dozens of FBI agents armed with long guns and dressed in tactical gear surroundeded the home of Mark and Ryan-Marie Houck and their seven children. They arrested Mark, a Catholic pro-life activist, over a shoving incident that had taken place nearly a year earlier across the street from an abortion clinic.

Will we take it as far as even the United Kingdom?

In December police approached Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, 45, who was standing silently across the street from a British abortion clinic. They asked her: "Are you praying?"

"I might be praying in my head," she responded. They arrested her.

Pride Month is celebrated in June, which seems appropriate, given that June is also the first month of hurricane season.

A friend on Twitter probably described Pride month best a few weeks back.

"Here's the thing about 'PRIDE,'" he tweeted:

"If you need to showcase it. If you need to constantly validate it. If you need to force others to acknowledge it ... it isn't pride," he reasoned. "It's narcissism."

June is also remembered for D-Day, officially called Operation Overlord, which was the name given to the allied invasion of Western Europe by British, Canadian and American troops.

Seventy-nine years ago Tuesday, thousands of members of The Greatest Generation lost their lives storming the beaches of Normandy, France, so that future generations of men could pretend to be women and prance around waving rainbow-colored banners.

The soldiers, sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen also fought on The Longest Day on June 6^th so that future generations could freely exercise their First Amendment rights, which include freedom of speech and religious liberty.

All things considered, it seems that we may have failed the struggles of  The Greatest Generation. We may have let the men of Normandy down.

Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.