Not sure whether to post this here or in Current Affairs, but here goes...
So some Christian missionaries came back to an Arab American festival for a second year in an attempt to evangelize Muslims. They had gone last year and gotten into trouble with security then; this year they were arrrested and jailed for disturbing the peace.
Obviously there is freedom of religion and freedom of speech here in America.
But where does the limit fall for freedom from a religion?
When people deliberately attend a ginormous festival designed for others who observe a different religion from themselves and try to make converts, is that line crossed? How far do they go at that festival to cross a line, if you see a line at all?
How would these evangelists react if someone from another religion came to a Christian festival and tried to convert them to another religion?
To add to this :
the evangelicals freely admit they walked around openly filming and recording everything they did and said at the festival. Is this a breach of other people's privacy?
Could this be the disturbance as much as the preaching? Or maybe a combination of both? Are these people sincerely trying to help others or are they obnoxious attention seekers? Or both?
Not trying to single out Christians and Muslims here - feel free to substitute any other religious groups. Perhaps Hindus trying for converts at a large Jewish-American festival? Looking for thoughts on limits of freedom of religious expression and speech vs. disruption of public events.
Personally I wish I could sign a register to keep religious people seeking converts away from my house. Hate, hate, hate the door to door religion sales people (and door to door sales people period). If I can register my phone so as to not be bothered by sales people, why not my freaking HOME?
Not sure about public events - I guess it would depend too much on the specific circumstances...
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